Email Newsletter eMarketing - a Small Business

Transcription

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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Book
6
Purpose of this Book
7
Introduction to Email Newsletters
8
What is an Email Newsletter?
Email Newsletters: Popular and Effective
Over Saturation and Information Overload
Characteristics of Good Email Newsletters
More on Stickiness
Viral
Value-Added Information
Increase Customer Lifetime Value and Build Relationships
It’s About Content
Content, Content, Content
Choosing Content
Keep Track of Ideas
Target Audience
Question Yourself as you Write
More About Content
Style and Tone
Personality
Email Newsletter Humor
Titles of Articles
Writing a Great “Subject Line”
The Importance of the “From:” Line
Get with the Program
Developing an Email Newsletter Program
Frequency
Email Newsletter Production Schedule
Editorial Agenda
Getting Help from Others
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Ready, Set, Go!
What to Accomplish with Your Email Newsletter
Selecting a Name for Your Email Newsletter
Mission or Purpose Statement
Team Effort
Getting Ready to Write
Towards a Good Read
Prepare an Outline
Go in Circles
Hypertext Structure
Make it Skimmable
Using Bulleted Lists of Information
Writing Good Copy
Use “You”
Emphasize Benefits over Features
Write Imperative Headlines and Subheads
Replace Lone Nouns with Real Subheads.
Replace Can with Will and If with When
Avoid Jargon
Replace the word Leading
Write a Complete Call to Action
Steak or Sizzle
Proper Mix of Information and Promotions
Case Studies
Interviews
About Us Section
Privacy Statement
Archiving Your Email Newsletters
Outsourcing: Pros and Cons
Hit the Links
When to Link
To Click or Not to Click
Custom email Stationery Design Services Offered
Linking to Additional Resources
Forward to a Friend Message
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Sign Them Up
If You Let Them In, You Have to Let Them Out
Double Opt-in
Incorporate Feedback
Design and Layout
HTML versus Text
Length and Size of Email Newsletter
Copyright Notice
Advertisements in Your Newsletter
Distribution and Mail List Management
Gathering Email Addresses
Permission Based Email Newsletters
Spam
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
Dealing with Spam Complaints
List Management
Manual Method
Automated Method
Welcome Message
Harvesting Email Addresses
Timing of Distribution
Ready to Launch
Proofreading Your Newsletter
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Promoting Your Email Newsletter
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Contacting Existing Customers
Promoting Your Email Newsletter on Your Site
Promoting Email Newsletter in Everyday Emails
Post to Publicize
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Email Newsletters and Search Engine
Optimization
Develop a Segmentation Strategy
Conduct Keyword Research
Target Major Search Engines
Follow Google’s Guidelines
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Content Guidelines:
Position Your Keywords
Design Guidelines
Build Links
Quality Guidelines
Submit Key Pages
Trust, But Verify
The Bottom Line
How’s it Going?
Email Newsletter Metrics
The Revenue Generator
Qualitative Benefits
What Can Go Wrong?
Appendix
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Exhibit 1 Example Privacy Statement
Privacy Policy
Security
Opt-Out
Contact Information
Contact Information
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Exhibit 2 Email Newsletter Checklist
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Exhibit 3 Proofreading Checklist
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Email Newsletter Glossary
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About the Authors and Contributors
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About KMT Software Inc. and Templatezone.com
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This is a book about how to use email to deliver low cost but very effective newsletters
to hundreds and perhaps thousands of prospects, clients, customers, and other interested
subscribers. This book draws upon the wisdom and experiences of successful emarketers. It includes additional resources such as an email newsletter glossary,
checklists, and links to web sites. As an e-Book, the table of contents allows you to
navigate to the subject that you want to read. Click on any item in the table of contents
to jump to that topic.
A good email newsletter is a combination of relevant and high value-added content,
interactive resources, and effective layout and design including HTML. The success of
an email newsletter hinges upon a plan or program that includes not only great content
development and design considerations but delivery systems and list management
“engines” that are geared to meet the needs of readers. If you learn nothing else from
this book, remember the importance of meeting the information needs of your
subscribers. With that in mind and with the advice and lessons learned from this book,
you should have a successful email newsletter program. The contributors to this book
hope you enjoy, learn, and profit from this publication. If you have comments,
suggestions, or corrections, please send them to the attention of Michael P. Griffin
[email protected] or write to us at:
TemplateZone by KMT Software.
50 Mount Vernon Street
Cambridge, MA 02140
© TemplateZone by KMT Software and Michael P. Griffin
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The purpose of this book is to help you prepare effective email newsletters and to
devise an email newsletter program that will help you achieve your goals. By reading
this book, you will avoid the mistakes that others have made. The contributors of this
book have shared within these pages, advice, tips, and wisdom of successful emarketers who have used email newsletters to great advantage. After reading this book
you too will be able to create very effective email newsletters; dynamic e-marketing
pieces that will:

Effectively highlight your products and services.
Provide value-added information to customers, clients, employees,
stakeholders, and prospective stakeholders.
Offer interactive marketing experiences based on your web resources or
the resources of a partner or vendor.
Provide competitive comparisons, interactive brochures, and invitations
to seminars, workshops, and conventions.
Detailed success stories, case studies, tips and advice that will actually
help solve problems and satisfy information needs of prospective
customers and existing customers.
Increase response rates, generate leads and close sales by using an
HTML newsletter with messages that will grab your customers’
attention and promote effective interactions.
Deliver a compelling message and present a professional image by
publishing your own email newsletter.
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What is an Email Newsletter?
An email newsletter is a new twist on an old element in the marketing mix. Many
organizations, large and small, use newsletters to help promote their organization,
products and services, build relationships with customers and prospects, and provide
valuable information to subscribers. Newsletters are also used to keep employees
informed of organizational developments. Experts, consultants, and professionals of all
sorts have used newsletters for many years to publish their advice, insights, and
wisdom.
The email newsletter is an electronic version of the traditional printed newsletter that is
physically mailed or distributed. Some may think that the email newsletter is simply an
email version of the traditional paper newsletter. This is a common misconception. An
email newsletter is more than copying and pasting your newsletter article into an email
message and sending it to hundreds and perhaps thousands of subscribers. It takes
advantage of the speed and low cost of the net. The sender can make use of precise and
proper timing (the best days and times to deliver) to maximize subscriber interaction via
click-throughs, inquiries, and ultimately purchases of goods and services.
A good email newsletter is a combination of relevant and high value-added content,
interactive resources, and effective layout and design including HTML. The success of
an email newsletter hinges upon a plan or program that includes not only great content
development and design considerations but delivery systems and list management
“engines” that are geared to meet the needs of readers while avoiding the use of spam.
Email Newsletters: Popular and Effective
The email newsletter is a popular way to get your company’s message out. Companies,
law firms, restaurants, CPAs, schools, churches, clubs, and government agencies are
making effective use of this low cost but high tech means of mass communication.
Since many organizations are starting email newsletters, it is now more important than
ever to follow a consistent set of guidelines to succeed.
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Email is still the killer “app” that ultimately delivers the email newsletter to millions of
inboxes everyday. Make no mistake about it, email is the preferred means of
communication and therefore it only makes sense that newsletters, a potentially
effective marketing tool, would get their high-tech makeover through email software.
One recent survey noted that email is preferred by 48.5% as the primary business
communication vehicle versus 39% for the telephone and 3.5% for traditional mail. 1 If
you are not maximizing the use of email as a delivery option for your email newsletter,
perhaps this book can help.
Part of the reason email newsletters are so popular is because email is cost effective.
The major cost drivers of email are the activities of writing, design, setup, and list
management. However, those are mostly fixed cost activities that are covered or
justified by mass emailings and the returns on investment (ROI) they yield. In addition,
design costs are typically one time costs since the newsletter templates can be created or
acquired and used over and over again.
Once an email newsletter is created, you can send thousands of copies via email with
little additional cost. For less than the cost of a business card, your reader can be
provided with a useful publication that is not only informative but also helps you build
customer relationships and sell products and services. According to experts, the cost of
an email newsletter is typically, $30 to $50 per thousand, or between $0.03 and $0.05
per email. 2 This is significantly less than traditional newsletters with their paper,
printing, handling, postage, return postage, and return mail handling costs. A typical
cost of a mailed newsletter is between $.65 and $1.25. In addition, the content of email
newsletters, because it is digital, may have a longer life since it can be archived on your
web site or easily incorporated into other digital resources. 3
Interactivity is another powerful feature and one that makes email newsletters an
effective piece of digital marketing collateral. Unlike traditional paper based
newsletters, email newsletters include links to web sites and email addresses. That puts
the ability to investigate, inquire, respond, and perhaps purchase, just one click away.
1
According to Roper Starch Worldwide, New York, New York.
Survey on the Commercial Use of Email, 2002, Association for Interactive Marketing,
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According to author Michael Katz (E-Newsletters that Work), a rule of thumb is that 75% of the work of
preparing an email newsletter is the writing with 25% the other logistics. He also says that to assume
that the email newsletter preparation will occupy about 1 day of work.
2
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Interactivity goes a long way towards conversion - a goal of most e-marketers. Keep in
mind that conversion can be many things:

Exchange of information (name, address, email address, product
information)

Subscriptions
Opting into an email marketing campaign
Registration of a product
Providing a referral

An important step on the way to conversion is persuasion. If you can persuade people to
subscribe and read your email newsletter, you have a chance at conversion.
An email newsletter can offer your subscribers a similar level of information resources
that are offered on your web site. Subscribers can click for more information, take
virtual tours, download demos, view PowerPoint presentations, and communicate with a
key person in your organization. The content of an email newsletter often triggers a
customer or prospect to create a dialog with your organization. Dialogs develop
relationships and good relationships lead to additional revenue. Your email newsletter
will facilitate customer feedback, information requests, and exchanges or sharing of
ideas. In short, email newsletters encourage information flows in both directions; from
your organization to your customer/prospect and from your customer/prospect to your
organization.
Over Saturation and Information Overload
The downside to email newsletters may stem from the fact that they are so popular. For
every permissible (non-spam) newsletter that a person receives, they are blasted with
unsolicited emails and email newsletters, many of which offer no value. Inundated with
email newsletters, readers become frustrated with information overload and junk email.
Many people are writing and sending email newsletters. Large and small companies,
professionals such as lawyers, accountants, physicians and others are sending email
newsletters. Even families are sending newsletters to keep their members, relatives and
friends up-to-date with family developments. With all this email newsletter activity, it is
imperative that you make your newsletters stand out in the crowed inbox of the email
program.
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One way to make your email newsletter stand out is give it personality by using HTML
formatting. Value-added content is an important goal of your email newsletter but it
goes hand-in hand with good formatting, layout, and style. You can read more about
those important issues in Chapter 9: Design and Layout
Characteristics of Good Email Newsletters
The next few sections introduce some of the characteristics of good email newsletters.
How do you know when you have a good email newsletter? The ultimate test is whether
your subscribers read it. However, there are other characteristics that we can target to
increase the odds that your email newsletter will get read. A list of characteristics of
good email newsletters will be covered in the next few sections.
To learn more about good email newsletters, do what the writers of this book have
done. Take a look at the email newsletters that you read.

What do you like about them?
What do you do with them?
Do you explore all their resources?
Do you skim some articles and more carefully read others?
Do you look forward to opening them when they are in your inbox?
What do you like about their look and feel?
What do you see in the “From:” line or the “Subject:” line that makes
you want to open the email and read the newsletter?
At least 80% of the content is useful information versus no more than
20% that is promotional (information about the company and its
products/services).
Good email newsletters are read (or skimmed) by subscribers. Subscribers look forward
to receiving the newsletter in the inbox and they “spend time” with their favorite
newsletters. They interact with the newsletter. They explore links, request additional
information, download free reports, worksheets, and white papers; they crunch numbers
in calculators, look up stock quotes, scroll, and make purchases all through the gateway
of the email newsletter.
You want your readers to “stick around” and explore – not only when they visit your
web site but also when they read your newsletters. When your readers do stick around,
it helps with an important web metric called “stickiness”. Stickiness is important.
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It’s also important for the reader to feel that the newsletter is useful, a vibe you must
provide. Usefulness (utility or value-added) can be best evaluated by answering the
question: Would a subscriber forward a copy of the newsletter to a friend or colleague?
If your subscribers truly believe that you are doing a good job as an information
provider, they probably will spend the time to read and interact with the newsletter.
They will also forward it to others — giving it “legs”. If subscribers think your
newsletter is a marketing puff piece, they will quickly delete it from the inbox.
More on Stickiness
Email newsletters promote an important e-marketing quality called stickiness. Usually
discussed by web site administrators as a worthy goal, stickiness must be one of the
goals of your email newsletter. You want subscribers to spend time reading (or
skimming) the newsletter because that may also lead to website visits and eventually
conversions (purchases). 4 Much like web sites, email newsletters can be full of
resources – links to other information, pictures, diagrams, web site links, downloads,
etc. Good email newsletters get readers to “poke around”, “browse”, and “kick the
tires”. Stickiness promotes responses, loyalty, and future purchases. The theory is that if
your subscribers (and web site visitors) don’t stick around long, they won’t buy. So
make a list of things you can include in your email newsletter that will promote
stickiness.
Viral
Not only are good email newsletters “sticky”, they spawn or better yet, they clone.
Readers of your email newsletter should be able to easily forward copies of it to other
interested parties by simply clicking the FORWARD button in their email software.
This is what some folks call the “viral” benefit of email newsletters. In an act of the
simplest form of viral marketing, subscribers will forward a copy of your e-publication
to friends and colleagues. However, they will only click that “Forward” button if they
believe that you have provided good newsletter.
The viral marketing possibility of email newsletters is another reason why you must
work hard to provide enough useful information. What is enough? That’s a difficult
4
Research studies show that readers of web site content, emails, and email newsletters tend to skim
rather than read every word.
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question to answer. One thing is for sure, if your email newsletter is 90%
marketing/promotional material or mostly filler and puff, your subscribers will rarely
forward it. Prepare a great email newsletter, full of value-added information and copies
of it will multiply across the internet. Subscribers will mention your email newsletters
in online discussions, chat rooms, and in emails, giving more exposure to your
messages and opening doors for additional interactions and new subscribers.
Value-Added Information
For your email newsletter to be successful and well respected, you must think of
yourself as an information provider. Information is the lifeblood of many organizations
and people value information. For years, people have subscribed (and in some cases
have paid lots of money) to traditional paper based newsletters. Some readers will pay
hundreds of dollars per year to subscribe to investment advisory newsletters and they
will continue to do so as long as they believe that the information in the newsletter is
worth the subscription price.
Many readers look to newsletters to give them quick snippets of information that they
can use in their businesses, professions, and everyday life to make a difference.
Subscribers hope that you can provide them with the kind of information that they could
only get by doing their own time consuming research. Since you probably have useful
information or can get your hands on good information, you can share it with your
customers and prospective customers through your email newsletter. That’s great value.
Your subscribers will appreciate your effort and you will build valuable and profitable
customer relationships — relationships that may yield results for years to come.
As you read through this book and as you develop your email newsletter plan and
program, keep reminding yourself of this simple assumption. You are an information
provider! When you write and design a great email newsletter, you show your readers
(customers and prospective customers) that you are more than a seller of product — you
are a source of valuable information. Show your subscribers that your email newsletter
is more than “brochureware”.
There are so many possibilities for adding value through an email newsletter. Your
email newsletter should add value so your readers can use it to:

Make intelligent purchase decisions.
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Live better lives or do their job better.
Lower costs.
Save time.
Use your product more effectively.
Increase revenues.
Promote their cause.
Stay up-to-date.
Improve careers.
Improve standards of living.
Shape the future.
Enrich intellectual life.
Enrich spiritual life.
Increase Customer Lifetime Value and Build Relationships
Many marketing experts talk about increasing customer lifetime value and the
importance of building long-term relationships with customers. Any informative email
newsletter helps build relationships and customer loyalty. Every well-done email
newsletter builds stronger links between you and your customers (and prospects). One
of the value-added functions of any good marketing program is to provide information
that prospective customers can use to make purchase decisions. Remember the simple
selling model? Persuasion leads to conversion which can lead to revenue. As you work
this formula over and over (with the aid of your email newsletter) you are adding to
customer lifetime value.
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Content, Content, Content
Content is king! Great formatting, pictures, color, e-metrics and web tricks cannot save
an email newsletter that was developed with poor content. All the tracking of clicks, all
the innovative ways to build a database of email addresses, and fancy HTML formatting
will not make an email newsletter with poor content successful. Most of the value of an
email newsletter is in the information it provides. Period! Invest in content before you
invest in anything else. You must have something to say that is interesting, useful, and
compelling or the email newsletter will be a huge waste of time for everyone involved,
especially for customers and prospects, who will see your email newsletter as just
another piece of spam.
Choosing Content
Where will you get your content for your email newsletter? Will you write all the
content yourself, get others to write it for you, or use 'recycled' articles from other
writers? Fresh, original content is always the best. If you don't think you can manage
writing all of the content, perhaps you can compromise: consider writing most of the
articles with the occasional third-party article.
As you decide what content to put into your email newsletter, think about one of the
basic goals of any newsletter – to build a relationship. Remember that your entry into
the world of email newsletter publishing is not about replacing your direct mail pieces
with a thinly disguised email newsletter sent cheaply via email. Your foray into this
field is about building stronger customer relationships with current and prospective
customers. It is in that light that you should gather and develop factual and solid
content. People rationalize purchases (conversions) based on facts. Present the facts in
your newsletter.
2
Also remember that you are an expert in your field and that as an expert, you have much
information to offer. For example, if you are a mortgage broker who writes a newsletter,
you can bet that most of the people who read your newsletter are not mortgage brokers.
They want to know some of the tidbits, tips, advice, and trends that you know and that
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you clearly see and can explain. They want to know what you know about interest rate
trends, closing costs, credit report errors, credit repair, and innovative loan programs.
Why not share what you know via your email newsletter?
What is there about your industry, products, services, and your organization that your
readers would like to know more about? There’s probably a lot! Your subscribers don’t
work in your field nor do they have the richness of experiences that you have. Tell them
a story! Think about how you share that in interesting, engaging, and interactive ways.
For example, Eenie Meenie Records in Los Angeles doesn’t just use their newsletter to
promote their artists and advertise – they actively seek feedback and content from their
customers with contests and exclusive offers, even private shows and chances to meet
the bands they enjoy. If you can pull that off, you will be a long way towards your goal
of creating a great email newsletter.
A newsletter adds value by offering relevant and truly useful articles your customers
can’t find anywhere else. And you write these articles by taking the intelligence and
expertise you accumulate every day and packaging it for your customers in helpful,
easily digested portions. Explain new technologies. Decipher relevant legislation.
Forecast trends. Chime in on industry debates. Give your customers the knowledge and
understanding they need to become better customers. 5
Figure 2.1 shows an example of an email newsletter that is aimed at its target audience
and engages them by not only telling a story, but telling it in a different way. Michael
Katz’s E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters gives readers suggestions for content and writing
tips in an engaging manner. This example talks about how the writer became a fan of
country music and uses it as a metaphor for finding your audience – a unique approach
that does more than just give facts.
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B2B E-Newsletters Done Right, Build relationships by Helping, not by Selling, by Mark Scapicchio.
Mark has written advertising and marketing copy for some of the best-known companies and advertising
agencies in the world, and for many successful smaller companies. To learn more about his background,
his clients, and how he can improve your copy visit his Web site at www.scapicchio.com
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Figure 2.1 Michael Katz’s E-Newsletter on E-Newsletters
Keep Track of Ideas
Writer’s block or even a lack of ideas can be a problem when writing any publication.
However, if you are excited about your subject, then you probably won’t have that
problem. Perhaps the reverse will be true — you may have an abundance of ideas.
However, if you are concerned that you will be tripped up by some form of writer’s
block, start keeping a list of content ideas in your planner, notebook or PDA. Or
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maintain a word processing file of content ideas that you update once or twice a week.
Ask your readers to suggest topics. The ideas will pile up. In the end, the challenge
won’t be in coming up with ideas — the biggest challenge will be how to filter and
prioritize the information so that you can best serve the needs of your specific target
market – the subscribers of your email newsletter.
Target Audience
Who would likely subscribe to your email newsletter? Good writing starts with knowing
your reader. Can you think about the typical subscriber and what they might ask you
about? For instance, Publishers Weekly sends emails to specific segments of the
publishing market on a weekly basis – libraries get content dedicated to their portion of
the industry, bookstores get content related to retail operations, etc.
The ultimate goal of your email newsletter is to engage readers who will eventually do
business with your organization. Therefore, keep in mind that you are trying to attract
readers who will eventually buy from you. For example, if you are a financial planner
whose services are geared towards wealthy individuals, your estate planning articles
might be focused on estates of greater than $2 million dollars. That group is quite
different from the young couple struggling to buy their first home. Their information
needs are quite different. The wealthy person might want to know how to shelter
income from taxes and how to protect assets from estate taxes. On the other hand, the
young couple might want information about how to buy and finance a home or how to
start saving for retirement.
To really get to know your subscribers, you should develop a subscriber profile. This
profile should be quite similar to the profile that marketers would develop for your
customers. The profile might include:

Where they live
Gender
Job title
Job function
Industry
Company size
Company sales volume
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Age
Occupation
Income range
Cars they drive
Children and what ages
Hobbies
Where they shop
If you do a good job identifying your subscribers and their needs and you work hard to
develop appropriate content, your readers will eventually come to the conclusion that
what you write about, helps. That direct link between what you write about and how
you can help your subscribers is powerful. You need to develop that link to be
successful over the long run.
Have you ever read a company’s newsletter articles and then fail to see any link to the
services and products of that company? That’s a big no-no. Your articles should make
your subscribers want to learn more about your offerings. Your content should make
subscribers request additional information. Newsletter content should offer useful
product and service related information, that’s the critical link you want to have in
every issue. There is an insurance agency that has a newsletter that includes food
recipes. Recipes are popular tidbits of information but how do they help sell more
insurance products and services? Unless you are the owner of a food service company,
how will recipes contribute to the success of your business? Over the long run, content
like that doesn’t directly link to your business mission is more like filler or fluff. It does
little to develop profitable relationships. Remember the simple model of selling –
persuasion leads to conversion which leads to revenue. You need to “trace” how your
content “works” the selling model.
Question Yourself as you Write
You need to perform a thorough analysis of your readers’ needs before you write. That
is a critical success factor of newsletter writing. Think about the information you need
to convey and anticipate questions your reader might have after reading your email
newsletter. The answers to those questions should then be incorporated into the first
draft of the newsletter. Here are some more questions you might ask yourself as you
rough out your first draft of the newsletter:
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How familiar are your readers with your topics? How much do you need
to explain?
What additional information, tables, pictures, diagrams, and charts will
enhance your message and provide value to the customer/prospect?
Are you overstating your case? When you overstate, the reader will be
on guard and then you risk losing their confidence.
Are you being objective? This is difficult to do when promoting your
organization, services, and products.
Have you weeded out subjective statements or superlative phrases?
Most readers are skeptical of exaggeration or over-reaching wording.
Do not reduce your credibility by using superlatives. Readers want facts
and objectivity.
Is your tone and content appropriate based on your target audience?
Your choices of tone include:
Casual
Informal
Personal
Scholarly
Formal
Does the level of complexity or technical information in your newsletter
match the level of your subscribers?
Will your subscribers perceive your newsletter as a benefit?
If your subscriber base is global or from diverse backgrounds, be careful
in your use of jargon, slang, and clichés. Jargon, slang, and clichés are
easily misunderstood. If you insist on using jargon, please explain the
meaning of the word so that no-one feels left out.
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More About Content
Style and Tone
Whatever style and tone you use in your email newsletter, avoid a promotional writing
style. Don’t make brash and subjective claims. For example, if you stated that your
product is the “hottest ever” or that your service is the “ultimate”, then you are likely
using a style that is too promotional. Credibility suffers when subscribers think that you
are exaggerating in your newsletter. An overly promotional writing style places an extra
burden on subscribers as they work to filter out the hype and hyperbole to get to the
facts.
Many readers like informal or conversational writing better than formal writing. Write
like you talk. Think about what you would say if your goal was to provide clear and
concise information, in conversation with a prospect or customer. For example, if you
are a CPA – write using the same style and tone you would use if you were meeting to
go over a tax return or if you were giving advice over the phone about a business
acquisition.
Personality
3
Think about how you can give your newsletter personality. The development of the
newsletter’s personality starts with you — the editor. You should probably try to model
the personality of the newsletter after your personality (unless you have an awful
personality). If you have an interesting personality, then you might find a way to make
it shine through in the email newsletter. One way to do that is to be genuine. Be
yourself. Subscribers want genuineness within their communications; they want to
know that a real person is behind the writing of the email newsletter. Some newsletter
editors suggest that you share personal information in your articles so your subscribers
get to know you – they see you are like them. You have hobbies, interests, kids,
problems, and etc. Your genuiness makes the subscribers feel as though they know you;
as though they can call upon you for valuable insights. Perhaps your hobbies, interests,
and personal case histories, when relevant and appropriate can give your newsletter
personality. Sometimes humor can do the trick. But be careful with humor. It is a
More About Content
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double-edge sword. Some subscribers will love your humor while others will be turned
off by it. See the next section on email newsletter humor. However you develop your
newsletter personality, always be sure that the information you provide is appropriate
and relevant to your subscribers’ information needs.
Email Newsletter Humor
Humor can help develop the personality of an email newsletter but you must be careful
when using humor. Humor can also turn off subscribers. That is especially true if they
are seeking information and find the humor to be inappropriate, irrelevant, or space
filler. An email newsletter containing puns or jokes may be described as stupid. That
will certainly detract from the serious points you want to make. Cynical humor may be
thought of as judgmental or misplaced.
Humor in a widely distributed email newsletter might be hard to pull off because of the
diversity of the subscribers. People of different cultures, education, and age may not
“understand or get” your humor.
Sometimes cartoons are a good choice. However, just as with pictures and other images,
you need to receive permission before you can use a cartoon. Shown in Figure 3.1 is
one of the cartoons from CartoonBank.com
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Figure 3.1 Cartoon from CartoonBank
Such a cartoon could be humorous and appropriate in a real estate email newsletter. It
could be used in the context of an article about the merits of adding an addition to your
home in an environment of low interest rates.
Cartoonbank.com is a New Yorker Magazine company. On their web site, they note the
following compelling reasons for using the humor of these cartoons in a newsletter.
Sure,
cartoons
provide
comic
relief
from
articles
that
sometimes can be heavy going. But New Yorker cartoons will
also help you:
Increase your newsletter's circulation.
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Create a bond with your readership.
Illuminate, illustrate, reinforce, and explain points in unique
ways.
Establish credibility by using material already vetted and
published by the New Yorker. 6
Titles of Articles
Use attention-getting headlines to introduce your articles and stories. Think about how
newspapers do it. Newspapers title their stories in a way that makes it easy to determine
the article content.
Writing titles for an article is a skill. Good headline writers for newspapers and
magazines are valuable editors. To complicate matters, there are a variety of different
headline styles. Some headline styles are straightforward and informational while others
are written to tease the reader. Some are meant to be funny, clever or cute.
You need to decide what works for your subscribers. If a story is meant to cover a
serious subject, then it is obvious that funny or cute won’t work well for a headline. In
that case, an informational title, that simply gives the reader an idea of what the articles
is about, is your only choice. Here are a few examples:

Informational: This is No Ordinary Product Release
Teasing: Will this New Service Save You Thousands?
Cute: New Personal Finance Software will Pad Your Bank Account
Writing a Great “Subject Line”
Give a great deal of thought to what you want the “Subject:” line to state. Just as with
an important office memo, the “Subject:” line is an important headline for the content
that follows. In addition, the “Subject:” line should be clear, honest, and never
misleading. It also should motivate the subscriber to open the email. Your “Subject:”
6
Cartoonbank.com - Licensing Newsletter, January 2003, www.cartoonbank.com
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line should get you in the ball game – give you a chance - keep the subscriber from
clicking the “Delete” button.
The “Subject:” line must incorporate a specific benefit or some information that will
interest subscribers and motivate them to open the issue. It must be more than just your
company name or the name of your email newsletter. For example, if you are a CPA
and your email newsletter issue is on retirement planning; use a subject like: “Do you
want to retire early?” If your email newsletter discusses your activities at an upcoming
trade show, why not write a “Subject:” line like: “Join us in Orlando; gourmet meal on
us!”
The Length of the “Subject:” line is also an issue — it should be around 5-8 words and
no more than 40 characters, including spaces. Keep in mind that dependent upon the
type of email program and screen customizations, your subscribers could be seeing as
little as the first four or five words in your “Subject:” line. Be careful when choosing
words for the “Subject:” line. Some words are turn-offs. For example, some experts
suggest that you not use the word “free” in the “Subject:” line. Some readers find the
word “free” as an immediate indication of a gimmick or a marketing tease or ploy.
However, if you do feel that the word “free” is an acceptable term to use in your
“Subject:” line, consider the following ethical advice from the Direct Marketing
Association (DMA). The DMA is the largest trade association for businesses that utilize
direct, database, and interactive marketing.
If a product or service is offered as "free," all qualifications and
conditions should be clearly and conspicuously disclosed, in close
conjunction with the use of the term "free" or other similar phrase.
When the term "free" or other similar representations are made (for
example, 2-for-1, half-price or 1-cent offers), the product or service
required to be purchased should not have been increased in price or
decreased
in
quality
or
quantity.
(DMA:
http://www.the-
dma.org/guidelines/dotherightthing.pdf)
You should also know that the word “free” in the “Subject:” line may not pass through
certain spam filter programs and may result in your email newsletter be labeled as a
spam. Don’t get real fancy with the “Subject:” line. Perhaps the best bet is to use your
newsletter name, followed by your lead article title. One school of thought says that you
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25
should never personalize the “Subject:” line. Thanks to spammers, businesspeople are
quick to delete anything that looks like spam or junk email — and nothing looks more
like spam or junk email than a personalized message from an unknown sender.
Eliminate all doubt by making the newsletter title — the thing to which they subscribed
— the first thing they see. 7
The Importance of the “From:” Line
In a survey conducted by Double Click, a provider of marketing analytical tools for web
publishers, it was revealed that trust between the sender and the receiver of an email is
paramount. Receivers of email cited the “From:” line as the number one motivator for
opening an email message. About 60% of respondents noted the “From” line and 30%
cited the “Subject:” line, as key variables when deciding whether to open the email. 8
There are some studies that show that as much as 80% of emails from unknown sources
are never read; deleted from the in box without ever being opened.
The name or email address on the “From:” line should be from an identifiable person,
preferably the editor of the email newsletter. And it is that person with whom the
subscriber will eventually feel some connection or rapport. For example, there is an
email newsletter published by a sports products company that includes information on
sporting goods equipment and also provides tips for athletes and coaches. The “From”
line shows not only the company name but also the web site address, and the editor’s
name — Coach Nick. The email newsletter begins with a personal message from Coach
Nick.
In addition to identifying in the “From” line who the email newsletter is from, you
should also provide specific contact information within the body of the newsletter. That
information should include company name, street address, phone number, email link or
at least a link to the to the newsletter’s sponsoring Web site. This is one area you can go
overboard – really make it easy for customers to get a hold of you – include an 800
number a fax number and more.
7
B2B E-Newsletters Done Right, Build relationships by Helping, not by Selling, by Mark Scapicchio.
Mark , www.scapicchio.com
8
Double Click Consumer Email Study, October 2002,
http://www.doubleclick.com/us/knowledge/documents/research/dc_consumer_email_0210.pdf
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Never use fraudulent or fake information to make it appear as though the email
newsletter originated from a different organization. Your use of invalid or non-existent
domain names or any other deceptive addressing is inappropriate and will only hurt
your credibility.
Credibility is very important in email newsletter marketing. Keep in mind that
legitimate editors of email newsletters would never obscure the source of the email that
delivers the email newsletter. Why would they? What is there to hide? On the other
hand, if you have an effective pen name (alias or pseudonym), use it in the “From” line,
but only use it if it adds value. One of my favorite newsletter personalities comes from a
company called Constant Contact, a company that provides a comprehensive email
marketing solution. The author identifies herself in the “From:” line as Michelle
Keegan, Email Marketing Diva. Whenever you receive that newsletter, you know what
to expect and look forward to reading it. Let your personality come through in every
aspect of your newsletter, including who it comes from. A company called
ePromos.com (a marketer of promotional products) has an informational newsletter that
is written by the founder whose name is Jake. The “From:” line is “Jake from
ePromos.com”
Whatever you decide to show in the “From:” line, stay with it. Don’t change the
contents of the “From:” line from one issue to the next. Consistency is very important.
You want to get your subscribers accustomed to receiving this important email (email
newsletter) from you. Your subscribers shouldn’t have to guess who the message is
from. If they start guessing; they will start deleting.
Be sure that the “From:” line contains an active return email address. Subscribers may
click the “Reply” button and compose messages that they want to send to the email
newsletter editor. When they click that reply button they are assuming that their
comments will reach their intended recipient. If they receive a “bounce back” they will
be disappointed for a variety of reasons. Subscribers need to believe that their replies
reach the editor and get read.
Finally, keep in mind that the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 prohibits that false
“transmission” information which includes the “From:” line. Be sure to read more about
CAN-SPAM in a subsequent section of this e-Book.
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Using Photographs, Images, Illustrations
Photographs, images, and illustrations are a critical component of today’s HTML
emails. Including image files in HTML email is important (users now expect images to
be part of HTML enabled email) and, thankfully, including images in HTML email
messages is relatively easy to do. As with anything, there are several rules of thumb that
should be followed – below is an “Image Etiquette” list.

Keep the size of any image file below 20Kb (and smaller, if possible)
through optimization methods. You can make an occasional exception,
but no one will put up with receiving an image greater than 100K.
Stick to popular, industry standard image file formats.
Upload the image files to an Internet server and refer to the file’s web
address – also known as its URL (Uniform Resource Locator). The
URL identifies the location of the image to the email client, so that it
knows where to go on the Internet to find the file and download it to the
user’s computer for viewing.
If you send a message that refers to an image file URL, make sure you
don’t remove the image from that server, or else the user will see the
“Red X” – see more below.
Optimizing Images for the Web
If the recipient of your email newsletter connects to the Internet on a dial-up 56k
modem (and most people still do connect that way, according to research reports and
our own anecdotal surveys), any email that exceeds 100Kb in size will take more than a
couple of seconds to download and appear on screen. In today’s short attention span
environment, a scenario like that guarantees that some recipients will not have the
patience to wait and will close out of your message. But, it doesn’t have to be that way.
There are techniques for slimming down the size of your images in your email. If you
use High Impact eMail and the ReadyShare, all of these issues are automatically taken
care of for the user.
Cropping an image is one of the best – and easiest – ways to reduce the size of an image
file. If there is extra space around the meat and potatoes of the image, simply cut it out
of the file by cropping. Most photo editor programs (such as Photoshop or ACD See)
provide a simple way to crop images – you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the crop
tool of your photo editor and start using it right away.
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Another useful way to reduce the weight of an image is by sizing it down. Images are
typically measured in pixels – so you can have a small logo image that is 80 pixels wide
by 80 pixels tall. Sizing that image down to 60 x 60 would reduce the total size of the
file. There is a very close relationship between image size and file size. Lowering the
dimensions of your image file will make it smaller to send and quicker to download.
There are also some more complex ways to lower the file size of your images. These
techniques include adjusting brightness, contrast, hue, and saturation – all of which are
properties of image files. It is also possible to use tools that will remove pixels from
images – thereby lowering the total file size. These tools can be researched and found
on the Internet and are also known as crunchers or compressors.
Stick with GIF and JPG
There’s not too much to say about this – GIF and JPG formats monopolize the web
image file space. Browsers and email clients have been built to support GIF and JPG, so
you know those files will be received and displayed properly. Why take a chance that
your images will not be seen when you know GIF and JPG will do the job?
Furthermore, the GIF and JPG formats are easy to work with in resizing and editing.
Upload and Refer to Avoid the Red X
It is crucial that the images you include in your email newsletter are NOT embedded
within the body of the email. Even if you size images down to a small size (say: 5- 10
Kb), you don’t want to embed that image because the total size of the message will
quickly get out of hand, and more importantly cause compatibility problems. For users
who connect via dial-up, this will be a deal-breaker. What you need to do is upload your
images to a folder on an Internet web server and then make reference to their URLs
from within the HTML code.
When you refer to the image URL, the email will open almost instantaneously and then
the email client will go out to the Internet and pull down the image from the URL
address. So, even though the images might not appear instantaneously, the text of the
message will come up right away.
Since you will be referencing the URL of the image instead of embedding the image in
the message body, you will need to keep the image located on the web server for a
period of time to ensure that recipients won’t see the dreaded Red X on screen. A good
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29
rule is to maintain the image at the same location for 6 months from the date of the
email newsletter. If you plan to archive your newsletter (see more about the advantages
of this in Chapter 12), plan to store your images indefinitely. The cost of doing this is so
far outweighed by the potential benefits of adding life to your content.
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30
Developing an Email Newsletter Program
Successful email newsletters are the product of a well devised program. An email
newsletter program consists of the plans and activities that you will need to create and
deliver a high quality email newsletter. The first three requirements of the program
should be issues of:

Frequency
Schedule
Editorial agenda
Frequency
Frequency refers to how often you will send out the email newsletter. Will it be weekly,
bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly? Many e-marketing experts believe that you should
send out your email newsletter on a weekly or monthly frequency.
When you start distributing your email newsletter at intervals greater than a month (i.e.,
quarterly) your subscribers will likely begin to forget you, your mission, and what you
can do for them. If that begins to happen, they won’t open and read the email
newsletter and eventually will take the time to unsubscribe. When your email newsletter
doesn’t add value, it’s junk that clogs up their inbox.
Email Newsletter Production Schedule
Next you need to create a schedule and stick to it. The preparation and delivery of an
email newsletter is an issue of production and operations management. Just as you
might schedule a factory order for production and then work backwards to acquire
resources, organize and control those resources, and ship the goods, you need to plan
the production of every email newsletter by starting at the end: the delivery date.
4
Create a publication calendar then work backwards from the projected delivery date,
setting dates for certain key deliverables. You will need dates for first drafts, final
drafts, etc. Set a publication schedule and stick with it to create consistency.
31
Look over your calendar. Think about dates that work well for you and your
subscribers. What are good days for your subscribers to receive their email newsletter?
What are good days leading up to the delivery date – that’s important for you as you
work towards your final goal. Do you want to set the first Tuesday of the month as your
publication date? Is a Friday bad because of the weekend? Is the end of the month
tough for you because of other business demands?
Pick dates and create a firm schedule. That eliminates procrastination and the feeling
that your next email newsletter is always hanging over your head. When it’s on a
regular schedule and carefully plotted throughout your calendar, it becomes a regular
part of your workload. Here’s an example of a schedule for an email newsletter:

October 1 - Review subscriber feedback since last issue and prepare
outline for November issue.

October 10 - First draft of email newsletter.
October 11 - Distribute first draft to key personnel for feedback.
October 15 - Incorporate feedback and produce revised draft.
October 20 - Prepare any letters to editors and incorporate.
October 25 - One last proof read.
October 29 - Incorporate edits and deliver for deployment and testing.
November 1 - Rollout (send issue via email).

Editorial Agenda
What are the objectives of your email newsletter? Will it, in addition to building
relationships with your subscribers, do any of the following?

Generate leads
Raise funds
Support a product or service
Your editorial agenda should be tied to helping you meet these objectives. The editorial
agenda is your plan for upcoming issues of the email newsletter. It is impacted by your
objectives and the topics you would like to cover in the months to come. For example, a
simple editorial agenda for a CPA might look like this:
January – Organizing Your Data for Uncle Sam
32
February – Basics of Retirement Planning
March – Small Business Planning
April – Risk Management
May – New developments in GAAP
June – Budgeting for the Small Business
July – Using Information Technology in Your Office
August – Auditing Nonprofits
September – CPAs and Personal Financial Planning
October – Attestation Services in the New Millennium
November – The 21st Century Controller
December – Year End Tax Planning
Here’s an example editorial agenda for a restaurant:
January – Coupons for certain nights – slow season; Comfort Food Issue
February – Valentines Day reservations
March – Spring Menu introduction
April – Special events; Guest chefs
May – Mother’s Day; take-out specials
June – Planning a party for your graduate
July – Beat the heat issue and Bastilles Day Celebration
August – Celebrating the bounty of local farms (articles from local framers)
33
September – Introducing the Fall Menu
October – Apples, Pumpkins and more
November – Planning for Holiday Parties
December – Gift Certificates and Special Events
To carry out your editorial agenda, keep in mind that you must plan it according to the
format or general outline that you have adopted. Below is a possible newsletter format:

Introductory Note from Editor
Case Study
Educational Material
Offers
Web Links
Contests
Your editorial agenda will affect each element. For example, using the above outline,
you will need to develop a case study, educational materials, and offers that are relevant
to each topic. Using our CPA as an example, the November issue should have a case
study that describes how the firm helped a particular company’s controller introduce
21st century information technology into his department, educational material about the
new roles of a controller, and certifications that controllers are achieving (CMA, CPA,
CFM, etc).
Getting Help from Others
As you think about your editorial agenda and put together a schedule, think about
partnering with content providers. Look at your schedule and think about who might
provide a source of content. For example, if you are writing a newsletter for a CPA
firm, articles on financial planning, payroll, and software might be very appropriate. It
could be that investment advisors, third party payroll service firms, and software
vendors would be willing to provide articles that would both inform your clients and
possible generate future leads.
Why should you get help from others? Here are a few great reasons:

Articles from others will likely improve the credibility of the newsletter.
34

It makes your job easier.
And importantly it gives you an opportunity to write articles for their
newsletters, thus giving you a new opportunity to promote yourself and
your publication.
For a realtor’s email newsletter it might make sense to have a local
banker write about refinancing, an engineer write about septic tank care,
an inspector discuss the basic points of a home inspection, and a
decorator write about the best ways to get your house ready for a
showing.
35
Ready, Set, Go!
What to Accomplish with Your Email Newsletter
If you are ready to get started, slow down for a minute. What do you want to
accomplish with the newsletter? Have you answered that question? Believe it or not,
people write newsletters without being able to write a sentence or two about what the
publication will accomplish. It is far to general to state that you want your newsletter to
generate revenue, or leads, or increase traffic to your web site. You need to be more
specific. Here are some examples:

Promote the goodwill that the business or organization does in the
community.
Help raise funds for a foundation by keeping in contact with donors.
Use it as a marketing or public relations tool by providing news items.
Provide internal information to staff members including fringe benefit
information.
Inform your clients, customers, etc. of new product developments.
Sell it as one of your organization's products (paid subscriptions).
Provide authoritative information, advice, instruction.
Create a community of interest (hobbyists, sportsman, professionals
associations).
Defining what you want to accomplish is another critical success factor and a question
that you need to answer before you start writing your first issue. As was mentioned in
the previous chapter, take time to write a mission or purpose statement for your
newsletter. Include it in at least the first issue and in the subscriber area of your web
site. Make it clear to everyone (especially yourself) what you are going to try to
accomplish with your email newsletter.
Selecting a Name for Your Email Newsletter
5
Choose a title that reflects your organization’s mission and the email newsletter's
content or goals. Make sure you don't use a title that's been trademarked by another
organization or a title that readers could confuse with another publication. Notice how
each of the following email newsletter names are simple and yet tell you what to expect:
Ready, Set, Go!
36

Apple eNews
Macromedia – The Edge Newsletter
IT News
Office Expert
bCentral Bulletin
WordBiz – by Debbie Weil
Mission or Purpose Statement
Include a statement about the newsletter's purpose and/or audience. This will be useful
for new readers and it should be easy if you have given thought to what you want to
accomplish with your newsletter. If you think the mission statement clutters your
newsletter, then put it on your web site and include a link to it in your newsletter. Like
the mission of your organization, periodically review the mission of your email
newsletter and revise it, as conditions and subscriber needs change. The advantages of
an email newsletter mission statement include:

A guiding light for content development.
A clear communication to prospective content providers as to what you
are trying to do with your email newsletter.
A clear communication to prospective and current subscribers of what
your email newsletter is about.
Team Effort
Who you can get on your creative team? Like many business tasks, preparing your
email newsletter should be a collaborative effort. In areas that you are an expert start
gathering content for the newsletter and perhaps even start writing. For areas outside
your expertise, call upon your key managers, colleagues and advisors to give you
critical input and content. You may also consider an editorial board which could help
set the agenda and review final drafts of the newsletter. An editorial board can be a
great source of new ideas and content. In addition, think about using other outside
contributors to get a diversity of opinion and other spheres of influence.

Ready, Set, Go!
If you are a realtor – use bankers, inspectors, septic experts, etc.
If you are a CPA use business valuation consultants, enrolled agents,
investment advisors, auditors, etc.
37

If you are a software developer, have another developer write about how
your product works well with theirs.
If you are an insurance agent, solicit content from jewelers, alarm
manufacturers, appraisers, and risk management experts.
If you are an auto dealer, get some user testimonials from your service
department.
A great team effort will not only produce a better newsletter but will bring key players
together to endorse the common vision or mission of the newsletter.
You probably already have a substantial warehouse of information about your company
and products and can incorporate that data into a newsletter program. However, don’t
ignore untapped sources of information such as outside advisors. For example, if your
tax accountant or insurance agent has knowledge that might be relevant to your
customers, ask those colleagues if they would be interested in contributing to the
newsletter. A physician could utilize the expertise of an asthma specialist in a newsletter
geared to patient needs. Why not ask these “experts” to provide you with an article or
two. Many people are aspiring writers and will be flattered and very willing to
contribute. Even this book was a collaborative effort with input from copywriters,
entrepreneurs, software developers, and e-marketers.
You are the editor of the newsletter and that means using as many high quality sources
of information you can find to meet the information needs of your readers. The
attribution you decide to give to contributors (their name, phone, number, email
address, web address, etc) in the newsletter may be the only form of advertising they
need to compensate them for their writing. And if your email newsletter is sent to
hundreds or perhaps thousands of subscribers, a contributor can get great exposure. In
most cases, people will be enthusiastic about contributing.
Getting Ready to Write
Writing an email newsletter can be intimidating. Some people will procrastinate,
stalling the process because they do not know where or how to start. There are ways to
overcome this intimidation and procrastination. Begin by reviewing your email
newsletter program or plan and your mission statement. As was mentioned in a previous
chapter, it is always wise to take time to look at other email newsletters that you like to
read or that you believe are effective. They may also get your creative juices flowing.
Ready, Set, Go!
38
There is nothing wrong with emulating a successful formula. Look no further than other
email newsletters with very loyal followings. They must be doing something right. Why
not learn from them. They should not be too difficult to find. Talk to friends and
colleagues and get their top email newsletter picks. And look at all types. Look at
newsletters from professional associations, nonprofit organizations, investment firms,
sports, and news. There are thousands to choice from. Subscribe to as many as you can
handle— you can always unsubscribe after you learned their lessons.
Ready, Set, Go!
39
Towards a Good Read
Prepare an Outline
You want your email newsletter to be a “good read”. A “good read” is a newsletter you
enjoy reading – that is clear, concise, and logical. There is no better compliment from
subscribers. To be a “good read” you must do some work. Good writing is hard work; it
doesn’t come natural to most people. It involves spending the time to put together a
good outline, writing, re-working the articles till they are clear and coherent, and
providing a structure that is logical and easy to skim.
It is valuable to review several successful email newsletters to see what you can learn
from the fruits of the struggles of other editors. Once you have reviewed a critical mass
of great email newsletters then prepare a simple outline for yours. Think about the
elements you want in the newsletter. Also keep in mind that consistency is important.
And although it’s probably unrealistic to think that you will arrive at the best format or
outline with your first issue, strive to come up with an outline that you can live with for
the long-term. You need a template that you can use over and over again. Remember
that subscribers like consistency and templates promote consistency of format and
style\. Subscribers want the newsletter to look the same, feel the same, have similar
resources and provide comparable benefits each and every issue.
Below is an outline used by a software company for its email newsletter. It uses this
simple but effective and consistent outline for each and every newsletter:
Introductory Note from Editor – personal observations from the editor. This is used
to connect in a personal way with each reader.
Case Study – a summary of a recently completed project or new product introduction.
This gives the editor the chance to not only inform and educate the reader but to also
“sell” the capabilities of the company to the reader.
6
Educational Material – tips, statistics, metrics, news, how-to, and other useful
information, relevant to the reader. It is this kind of information that may make the
reader subscribe or to keep current subscribers reading the newsletter.
Towards a Good Read
40
Offers – such as workshops, seminars, webinars, online courses, and discounts on
products.
Web links – to more useful information including partner web sites.
Contests – to promote a product or to gather new email addresses.
There is no secret success formula for an email newsletter outline. You will need to
develop one that you are comfortable with. The reality is that you will choose a
structure and then fine tune it as time goes by. Check out the alternative outlines used in
the email newsletters you receive in your inbox. Here are some alternatives:

Opinion feature
Letter from the editor
Trends/analyses
Monthly spotlight feature
Product/industry news
How-to articles
Reader involvement columns
Book reviews
News flashes
Interviews
Revenue opportunities – Monthly specials
And here’s another one to consider:

Featured Article
Useful Website Pick
Reader Q&A
Letter to the Editor
Surveys or Polls
Product Reviews
Tip of the Day
Inspirational Quote
The format that you adopt and the type of material you include in your email newsletter
is as endless as your imagination. The key is choosing a format that works for your
subscribers as they are the final judges.
Towards a Good Read
41
Go in Circles
The cliché: going in circles, usually speaks to some kind of inefficiency. But when it
comes to writing, going in circles is a must. You can’t write effectively without using a
recursive (circular) process.
Before you prepare the final draft of your email newsletter, you will need to go in
“circles” to make sure that your document is clear, logical, and compelling. The process
of writing a newsletter is a circular one in that you write, edit, revise and re-write to the
point where you may believe you’ll never finish. Other than spelling and grammar
check, no software can really help you through this circular process. It is basically you
and the words. You must read and re-write and you must do good proofreading 9 (or
have someone do it for you).
You need to recognize up front that writing the newsletter is work but there are a few
short cuts to writing a good one. You must put in the time and effort to produce a
polished and effective email newsletter. It will take many hours of thinking, analyzing,
researching, writing, revising, editing, and re-writing till you get it right.
Hypertext Structure
A number of successful email newsletters use the Hypertext structure. This is a format
with short text sections that serve as introductions to longer text passages or articles.
Although short text sections are used and initially displayed, there is no sacrificing
depth of content. All that is done with hypertext structure is a splitting of the
information into multiple nodes or sections, all connected by hypertext links.
Each initial introductory text can be brief and yet the full hypertext version can contain
much more information. Long and detailed background information can be linked to
secondary sections – much like is done on retail web sites like Amazon.com where
additional information links offer supplementary information. This makes it possible to
allow readers to select those topics they care about and click to those sections where
they want more information.
9
See the proofreading checklist in the Appendix.
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42
Figure 6.1 shows the hyperlink structure used in the ACD email newsletter. It uses a
form of the hypertext structure by giving only an introduction to its articles. The user
can click “more” to read more text beyond the introduction.
Figure 6.1 Hypertext Structure: ADC Digital Imaging Blast email newsletter
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43
Figure 6.2 netREPORTER email newsletter
Figure 6.2 shows another use of the hypertext structure with the netREPORTER email
newsletter. This publication uses a slightly different hypertext format from the ACD
example (Figure 6.1). Yet the netREPORTER hypertext structure is very effective with
“noteworthy” headlines serving as links to the stories/articles.
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Make it Skimmable
Studies show that people skim text (as oppose to reading every word) on the Web or in
an email. The same holds true for email newsletters. To make your email newsletter a
“good read” for your subscribers, you need to make it easy for them to skim it. The
following techniques should help your subscribers be successful “skimmers”:

Towards a Good Read
Highlight keywords that you want to emphasize. Bold or other typeface
variations are helpful. Underlining is probably a no-no because it will
confuse readers. They may think it is a hyperlink. Hyperlinks can serve
as one form of highlighting and are useful when used sparingly.
Give lots of thought to writing meaningful headings. It is better to be
straightforward and clear than to be "clever" or cute.
Put a benefit-oriented “deck” under your article title. A deck is a
journalistic term for a sub headline. For example, if your headline is 10
Common Myths about Snow Tires, your deck might be Get the right
advice now, and drive safely this winter.
Make use of bulleted lists. Bulleted lists are popular with readers and
make it very easy for readers to move quickly through your thoughts.
More on the use of bulleted lists in the next section.
Package” your articles as lists tips, myths, tricks, stories, warnings…
Readers can’t resist what I call “text tools” — lists of facts or actions or
insider tips they can put to work right away, or pin to their corkboards to
have handy when needed. 10 Dangerous Myths about Snow Tires, Five
Real-Life Investment Mistakes You Can Avoid — these are article titles
that say read me or suffer the consequences.
Use principles of good writing such as one idea per paragraph. Layout
your idea early in the paragraph. Readers will skip over additional ideas
if you don’t grab them early with the first sentence or two of a
paragraph.
Keep the word count down. Just as you would do when writing an
editorial for your newspaper, keep the word count of your email
newsletter down. One rule of thumb for newsletter writing states that
you should “half the word count”. In other words, write about 1/2 as
much as you would write for a more conventional piece of writing, such
as a business report. Some people like to adhere to a 500-to-1000-word
limit. Articles of that size are perfect for the email medium.
When a reader first opens your email newsletter, they should be able to
quickly "get" what the page is about. That means the information should
be visible without having to scroll too much.
45
Reading from computer monitor is tiring for the eyes. Some experts say that reading
from a computer screen is about 25 percent slower than reading from paper. It is true
that some people will print out your email newsletter to read at a later time. However,
many people will choose to read it on their monitor the moment that they open it.
Therefore, think of ways that you can write and design your email newsletter to make it
easy to read – skimmable by your subscribers.
Using Bulleted Lists of Information
Readers like bulleted lists. Use lists for presenting groups of related information

Short lines

Easy to skim
Organize related hyperlinks well

Lists are short lines, and easy to skim. Since they break up nicely into chunks (one
chunk per list item) they work well for organizing links to web resources. For many
situations, they will work better than links scattered in a paragraph that must be read in
context. For example, if you wanted to mention three great online retailers, these might
come to mind:

Amazon.com www.amazon.com
Lands End www.landsend.com
Best Buy www. bestbuy.com
Keep the items short. To keep the list skimmable, try to keep the length of each item in
the list short. No more than two or three sentences.
Writing Good Copy 10
When you’re creating a newsletter that hundreds or even thousands of people will read,
it’s easy to forget that you have to write your copy for just one person — your reader.
Here are seven tips to help you connect with your reader through good newsletter copy.
10
This section was adapted from a piece written by Mark Scapicchio. Mark has written advertising and
marketing copy for some of the best-known companies and advertising agencies in the world, and for
many successful smaller companies. To learn more about his background, his clients, and how he can
improve your copy visit his Web site at www.scapicchio.com
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46
Use “You”
When your reader opens your email newsletter, it’s just you your reader, one-on-one —
like a private presentation without anyone else in the room. And you just can’t give an
effective private presentation without using the word you. Your copy should be
crawling with the word you, with forms of the word you (you’ll, your, you’re), and with
imperatives, in which you is understood (see below for more on imperatives). At the
very least, find a way to work you into your headline, your first subhead, and the first
sentence of your body copy. Replace weak generics such as one (as in: When one
considers the options), businesses and the competition with you, your business and your
competitors. Write as if no one else in the world matters but the one person reading at
any given instant.
Emphasize Benefits over Features
Whatever you write should be organized around benefits — the ways your product or
service or company will improve your reader’s life. The features behind the benefits are
exactly that: behind the benefits, playing a supporting role. Suppose you’re writing an
ad for your new laser printer, which is twice as fast as any other printer on the market.
Your headline should tout the benefit of the speed, and not the speed itself:
Print any document in half the time.
Leave the feature to your body copy:
SuperPrint’s new 50-page-per minute print engine cranks out your documents at
least twice as fast as any printer you’re using today.
Notice, by the way, that the “feature” sentence repeats the benefit. You can never repeat
your benefits often enough. In fact, if you have extra space in your layout and have a
choice between mentioning adding a lower-level feature or repeating an important
benefit, repeat the benefit. Even on the back sides of your data sheets — where people
expect to see bullet lists of features — group those features under benefits, repeated or
otherwise. You’ll be giving your reader what he or she really wants.
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Write Imperative Headlines and Subheads
An imperative is a sentence in the form of a direct command, and in which the word
you doesn’t appear but is “understood.” Get me a cup of coffee, Take off your shoes
before you come in here, and Don’t forget to call me — these are all examples of
imperatives.
Imperatives are extremely powerful sentences — not because they’re the way we give
orders (who are you to boss around your customers?) but because they’re the language
of confident, expert, indispensable advice. We were raised on so much good advice
given in the form of imperatives — Look both ways, Don’t talk to strangers, Buckle
your seatbelt — that we’re practically hardwired to read them. That’s why mass-market
ads are full of imperatives like Ask your doctor, Compare, and Just Do It.
It’s easy to write irresistible imperative headlines and subheads: Just write sentences
that tell your reader to take advantage of what you have to offer. Surf the Web up to 100
times faster. Save thousands each year in maintenance costs. Email us TODAY for your
free white paper. They don’t have to be fancy or clever; in fact, the more direct and
more specific, the better.
Replace Lone Nouns with Real Subheads.
Single nouns — like Overview, Background, Features, Benefits, Challenge, and
Summary — don’t cut it as subheads. These are the kinds of vague, emotionless words
you’d expect from a court stenographer, not a copywriter. They may have helped your
writer organize his or her thoughts, but they do absolutely nothing for your reader.
In any copy — and particularly in longer copy — your subheads are as important as
your headline. They should be active and compelling (and ideally, imperative)
sentences — complete thoughts — that make the body copy beneath them seem much
too important to skip. And subheads should also be specific enough that a skimming
reader can read only your headline and your subheads and still get a basic understanding
of your primary benefits and your call to action.
Single, vague nouns can’t do all this work; in fact they can’t do anything but take up
space. Never accept them from a copywriter.
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Replace Can with Will and If with When
If you’re not absolutely sure about your product or your offer, why should your reader
believe you? In ad and marketing copy words like can and if signal doubt or
qualifications or extenuating circumstances to your reader — and these are the last
feelings you want to convey.
You’ll make your copy confident and reassuring when you replace can with will and if
with when. Consider the difference: We can install your new tires in one hour or less is
a mere possibility; We will install your new tires in one hour or less is a promise (in
fact, you almost expect it to be followed by a guarantee). Get a free gift if you call
today implies that you have another option; Get a free gift when you call today assumes
you’ve already decided to make the call.
Making these two simple replacements will take the doubt out of your copy — and the
hesitation out of your reader’s mind.
Avoid Jargon
For years businesspeople used the word access as a verb — even as writers complained
(not entirely correctly) that the dictionary listed it as a noun only. Today most
dictionaries, including the latest Webster’s, list access as a verb.
But that doesn’t mean you should use it in your copy. Like most bits of tech jargon that
earn their way into accepted usage, access is about as colorful and emotional and
inspiring as a wet gym towel. Most readers can’t picture themselves accessing
something; those that can don’t see a very exciting or memorable picture.
Instead of access, why not write instantly find and use, or locate precisely, or put your
finger on? These are things people actually want to do, activities that imply a reward or
some success. That’s why they make better copy.
Access is just one example, no worse than populate or format or support. Each has at
least one emotional, evocative and specific alternative, like enrich or transform or work
perfectly with. Use the alternative in your copy whenever you can.
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Replace the word Leading
Want to torture a coworker? Tell her she can’t go home until she finds ten corporate
Web sites — including your own — that don’t use the word leader or leading in its
company description. (To be nice, have take-out delivered to her desk — she’ll be
hungry later on.)
Even before it became so completely overused, leader was a vague word that demanded
qualification — and the equally overused qualifiers that emerged (market leader,
industry-leader, value leader) aren’t much more specific.
Now that practically everyone uses the word, calling yourself a leader makes you a
follower; worse, it bores your reader to tears. Your copy needs to tell your reader why
your company and products are different and better, and it can’t do this using the same
words everyone else uses. Try to describe your company in a truly original way, using
the word “you” if possible. Then you’ll be leading in the truest sense of the word.
Write a Complete Call to Action
There’s a rumor out there that your call to action can be as simple as your phone
number and Web address placed under your logo. The rumor is false. To get any
response at all from your copy, your call to action must accomplish three things:

It has to recapitulate the primary benefit of your product or your offer.
See for yourself how MultiLube can add years to the life of your car.
It has to tell your reader exactly how and when to respond. Call 1-800123-4567 TODAY for more information.
It should offer your reader an incentive for responding. An expert
mechanic will answer all your questions. Or even better, The first 30
callers will get a FREE one-quart sample — a $79.95 value.
Omit one of these components and your response potential drops dramatically. Leave
just a phone number, and you’ll be lucky to get a single call.
Next time, write it right, right from the start. Making any of these changes will improve
your copy — the more of them you make, the more dramatic the improvement.
But last-day fixes are no substitute for doing it right the first time. When you start with
a solid command of the basics — and the preceding ten tips represent the very basics —
Towards a Good Read
50
you have more time to try more creative options and to hone a razor-sharp message
your readers can’t ignore.
If you’re determined to write your own copy in-house, invest the time, energy and
money to teach yourself and your staff how to do it right. Read as many of the scores of
good books on the topic as you can find. One of the best writers on this subject is Bob
Bly who has written dozens of books – check out his web site at www.bly.com. See his
books listed at http://www.bly.com/newsite/Pages/publications.html. Take
copywriting courses at your local business college or branch of the Direct Marketing
Association (DMA). Collect and study ads and marketing materials from competitors
and companies you admire. Practice — rewriting older, disappointing ads and collateral
is a great way to start.
Better yet, work with an experienced copywriter. A good copywriter knows all the
basics in this report, plus untold numbers of other ways to help you get more response
from everything you print, mail or post on-line. More important, a good copywriter
gives you back the time you need to concentrate on creating the kinds of products and
promotions that make better copy.
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Steak or Sizzle
Proper Mix of Information and Promotions
About 15 years ago (many readers may not remember), the hamburger chain Wendy’s
ran a promotion that produced a new cliché in the form of a question: “Where’s the
beef?” The question was really a put down of the size of competitors’ hamburger
patties. Wendy’s was making the point that their burgers were the right size for most
people’s appetites while McDonalds and Burger King were selling skimpy burgers. As
often happens with overused phrases, the “where’s the beef?” cliché took on another
meaning. People would ask the question when they believe there was no substance in a
debate, an article, or a discussion.
Make sure no one is asking “where’s the beef?” in your email newsletter. Make sure
you provide plenty of “beef”; preferable steak. Give your subscribers something they
can really sink their teeth into (no pun intended). You must give plenty of thought to the
mix of information (steak) and promotional/advertising (sizzle) that you want to achieve
with your email newsletter. If your newsletter is 70% marketing material, 10% filler,
and 20% useful content, then you’re in trouble. Although you may be able to entice
subscribers, you will likely see high turnover or churn. People unsubscribe after a few
issues as they determine that you don’t offer enough value-added information.
Some experts suggest the 80/20 rule. This rule states that at least 80% of the email
newsletter’s content be useful information and that no more than 20% be promotional.
It is fine to make marketing pitches in your newsletter, but you must do in such a way
as it does not overwhelm the valuable information that you provide or short circuits the
relation building process of which your newsletter is an important element.
There are also legal aspects of dishonesty in e-publishing. According to the Direct
Marketing Association, certain types of email including fraudulent and deceptive
marketing messages are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (and some states)
and marketers who violate these laws can be held accountable and fined accordingly.
7
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52
Case Studies
One powerful type of content is the case study. Case studies are an effective way to get
your message across. People like stories and people learn a great deal from real life
stories. Case studies are easy to assimilate and to remember. They also add a personal
touch. There are also benefits of mentioning work that you have done with specific
customers. Well known customers can lend some credibility to your work. Below in
Figure 7.1 is an example of how TemplateZone.com used a case study in its Office
Expert email newsletter to highlight how one of its client’s, Legal Seafood, is using
TemplateZone’s High Impact email with ACT! to keep in touch with restaurant
customers.
Figure 7.1 Case Study from TemplateZone’s email newsletter called the Office Expert
Case studies may also promote your client’s business because the customer’s name is
usually disclosed in the case study. However, always get permission first before
including a customer’s name and be sure that you are not disclosing confidential
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53
information. Keep in mind that your goal is not to tell secrets but to give your
subscribers an interesting way, from a real world point of reference, to learn more about
what your company can do for them.
Interviews
Interviews are very effective. Like case studies, they lend credibility. The Q & A
format of interviews are also easy to read. They are very skimmable, a characteristic
that subscribers like in email newsletters. Your interviews can be with insiders, with
third-party experts, with clients, industry leaders or government officials. Think about
whom your subscribers would like to hear from and get the interview. Also related to
interviews is the FAQ section – frequently asked questions. From time to time, a FAQ
might make for interesting reading – especially if it is derived from subscriber feedback.
Those will be the questions that subscribers would like to read the answers to.
About Us Section
One content constant of many email newsletters is an “About Us Section” or at least a
link to the “About Us Section” of the sponsoring organization’s web site. If you do
provide a landing page for your “About Us” section you can provide a variety of
information there including:

Publishing schedule for email newsletter
Purpose
Audience
Disclaimer
Copyright statement
How to receive the newsletter by email or on paper
How to contact the editor
Information about the email newsletter archives
Privacy Statement
Since many subscribers to an email newsletter have concerns about privacy, a privacy
statement at the time of sign-up and at the end of your email newsletter makes sense.
Below is an example.
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54
TemplateZone is committed to protecting the privacy of our members. In order to
provide a safe, secure experience, we will make every effort to ensure that the
information you give us remains private.
You can see an entire sample privacy statement in Exhibit 1 of the appendix.
You should provide a link to your complete privacy statement/policy on your website.
You can also prepare a privacy statement using a model written by the Direct Marketing
Association’s (DMA). DMA has a Privacy Policy Generator (PPG) on their web site
(www.the-dma.org) 11 . The Direct Marketing Association is the largest trade
association for businesses that utilize direct, database, and interactive marketing. They
have developed ethical standards in a number of direct marketing areas, including
customer/prospect privacy issues.
Archiving Your Email Newsletters
A good practice that you need to incorporate into your email newsletter program is the
archiving of past issues on your web site. Archiving offers several advantages.
11
•
It adds more useful content to your web site; content that may be referenced by
search engines and web crawlers. That will mean more potential hits to your
web site.
•
An archive contributes to stickiness. People will spend more time at your web
site, poking around past issues.
•
As you write new newsletters you might want to reference previous issues. If
they are archived, your new subscribers can go back and read your references.
You may even want to create a hyperlink back to the previous issue.
•
An archive of past issues gives news subscribers the opportunity to look at your
body of work. Solid past issues will only enhance your reputation as a valueadded information provider.
The privacy generator can be found at: www.the-dma.org/privacy/creating.shtml#form
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•
Past issues allow prospects to decide if they want to subscribe, and possibly
even do business with you.
A good example of a simple, yet effective way of archiving email newsletters can be
seen at the web site of Spazio Interiors www.spaziointeriors.com. Spazio Interiors is
the premier Austin, Texas showroom for contemporary art and furnishings. They use an
email newsletter to keep in touch with its customers, boost traffic to its website,
generate foot traffic to the showroom, increase newsletter subscribers and build out-oftown and word-of-mouth sales. The company discovered that email catalogs and
newsletters offered a golden opportunity to open a dialogue with subscribers while
meeting marketing and growth goals. Figure 7.2 shows how Spazio offers an archive of
past email newsletters.
Figure 7.2 Spazio’s Archive of email newsletters.
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Figure 7.3 – a sample Spazio newsletter.
Outsourcing: Pros and Cons
There are a number of areas of email newsletter management that you can outsource.
You can subcontract the writing of the email newsletter and also the list management
and delivery functions. One of the arguments against outsourcing for small
organizations is the cost. It can become expensive to write and manage these
campaigns if your subscription base is small. In addition, if you have someone else
write your email newsletter, how can you assure that it will have the personality and
“genuineness” that you want to achieve? Outsourcing of the writing function could
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57
provide a disconnect as the subcontracting writer will need to work very hard to
understand your organization, your mission (and the mission of your newsletter) and the
information needs of your subscribers. However as you grow the outsourcing of list and
delivery management probably makes sense. With an outsourced solution, you don’t
have to worry about anything other than the content of your email newsletter. All the
headaches of managing the list and the particulars of tracking results (e-metrics) are left
to the third party outsource firm.
Here’s a summary of what a typical an outsource firm can offer:

Help building your list – a consultant can help you build your email
database through your web site. They can add an effective "Join my
List" sign and form to your website. The forms can collect site visitor
information including not only the email address and interests of your
subscribers.

Help you create your email newsletter – subcontractors can provide
you with easy to use templates or forms for HTML email.
List management – a third party can help you keep track of
subscribe/unsubscribe and “bounce backs” (undeliverable emails) so
you can keep your subscriber base up-dated.
eMetrics – a subcontractor can help you “see how you are doing: by
track your results including subscription growth, opened emails, clickthroughs, and then provide analysis and comparisons of current results
with past results and your results with benchmarked results of other
email newsletter publishers.

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Hit the Links
When to Link
One benefit of an email newsletter is its capability to provide hyperlinks to additional
resources such as web sites, demos, PDF reports, whitepapers, and worksheets. Give
some thought to the types of links you want to provide. Links can be a waste of
subscribers’ time, especially if the information you are linking to is irrelevant to the
subscribers needs. There is also a risk to providing links to outside resources. Your
subscriber may follow that link and not come back.
If you provide several links, be sure to give the subscriber “advanced notice” of what
they will see if they click the link. This sounds obvious but sometimes text is
hyperlinked and it is very vague as to what is “behind” that link. For example, if the
words “new product” were hyperlinked in an email newsletter article, what do you think
you would see if you clicked the link? Is that a link to a picture, a press release, a
written description? Subscribers don’t like vague link descriptors or teasers. They want
simple straightforward writing.
To Click or Not to Click
One effective way of using links (both to additional internal information or external
web resources) is to provide a short descriptive title – like a headline; followed by a
sentence or two that summarizes what you will see if you click the link – almost like an
abstract. With that format, the subscriber usually has enough information to make a
decision to click or not to click. For example, the following announcement allows the
user to learn more by clicking the Read Press Release link.
November 15, 2005
TemplateZone.com today released a special holiday greetings
edition of its flagship desktop email marketing program, High
Impact eMail 3.0 Holiday Edition.
Read Press Release
8
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59
Another way to provide the subscriber with enough information to decide whether to
they should keep reading (click the link) is to provide a headline, a couple of summary
sentences, and a “read more” link to additional information. Below is an example.
Custom email Stationery Design Services Offered
KMT has a team of expert HTML designers who are
available for Web design services. Our team will work with
you to complete all your Web needs.
read more...
Linking to Additional Resources
One of the advantages of email newsletters is the ability to link to other information
resources. The ones you use and the way you point to those resources (links) is another
critical success factor of great email newsletter publishing. Therefore, study the way
other successful email newsletter publishers use links. Many will provide links to
additional information resources as sidebars to their newsletters.
Below in Figure 8.1 is an example of how the Nedco Sports Company provides
additional links in its email newsletter entitled: Hit2Win (www.hit2win.com). Nedco
manufactures a variety of baseball and software training aids that help players become
better hitters. Their email newsletter is geared towards players, parents of players, and
coaches. Although the email newsletter contains a considerable amount of promotional
material, its articles and additional links provide educational material that players and
coaches might find useful. Their newsletter is a good example of how you should mix
promotional material with a good mix of useful information.
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60
Figure 8.1 Links to Outside Resources from the Hit2win.com Baseball
Newsletter
Links such as this can provide an opportunity to link to affiliates with whom your
organization does business. Companies with large audiences have also monetized these
links by offering them to advertisers.
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61
Forward to a Friend Message
Viral marketing makes use of ways to spread the benefits of a product or service in a
fast and effective; almost self-sufficient way. If you go to a new restaurant and you
think it is great; you will quickly share the experience with others who will go to the
restaurant and also spread the news. Word-of-mouth is a very powerful form of viral
marketing.
With email newsletter promotion, the most basic form of viral marketing is giving
subscribers reasons to tell their friends about your newsletter. Use viral marketing to
spread the message of your email newsletter and to grow your list of subscribers. To do
this, make sure you include a "forward to a friend" link in each issue of your newsletter
and equally important, a sign-up link for new subscribers. Be very explicit about this.
Proactively encourage, through clear and persuasive wording, the forwarding of the
newsletter. Getting subscribers to share the newsletter is another “call-to-action” that
you must work to develop. Make it known that you want this type of viral marketing to
happen. Here’s some suggested wording.
If you find this newsletter helpful, and have a friend or colleague who
you think might also enjoy it, please forward it. In addition, we
welcome new subscribers.
Sign up for a monthly subscription by
clicking here.
Sign Them Up
Make signing up easy. Don’t hassle new subscribers with lots of questions. How many
times have you gone to a site and decided to get more info then to only find out that you
had to go through survey and data entry hell? Don’t set up barriers – if you establish a
relationship with the reader over time, they will be glad to share more information with
you over time, as they get comfortable with the relationship.
No one should have to wrestle with trying to figure out how to subscribe. Make it clear
and promote your sign-up offer at the bottom of your everyday email that you send in
the normal course of business. Even if you're sending email to a friend or co-worker,
include a link to your sign-up for a subscription form.
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If You Let Them In, You Have to Let Them Out
You should do everything you can to encourage people and make it easy to subscribe to
your newsletter. On the other hand, you also must make it easy to unsubscribe if they
want out. Email newsletter publishers must offer you the ability to opt-out of their
newsletters. The term opt-out means that you have notified the publisher that you no
longer want to receive the newsletter. It is synonymous with unsubscribe. It can be
very frustrating to keep receiving an email newsletter that you don’t want if there isn’t
an easy way to unsubscribe.
Double Opt-in
Many email newsletter providers utilize the double opt-in method. Here’s how that
works. The user opt-ins in at the provider’s web site by entering an email address and
perhaps checking boxes (i.e., interests, type of newsletter, HTML versus text, etc.)
Although the provider gathers emails from their website rather than add them
immediately to the email newsletter subscriber list, it holds those email addresses and
sends a secondary email requiring a response to opt-in to the list. Once the user receives
the confirmation and responds to the confirmation message, they will be added to the
subscriber list and will begin receiving the newsletter.
Here’s an example. The Opt-in News requires that web site visitors who want to
subscribe enter their email address.
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63
Then they are required to enter additional information, as shown below, such as first
name, last name, and company name.
Once that information is submitted, the subscriber receives the following email
message:
Thanks for Subscribing to the Opt-in News email newsletter.
To confirm your free subscription and start receiving the
newsletter, simply Click here
By clicking to confirm, you are completing a double opt-in
process. We know the importance of maintaining your
privacy so we don't share or sell any of the information you
give us. You will not receive any solicitations from any third
party because of this subscription.
By responding to the email message, the user has executed the “double opt-in” – having
in effect asked for the subscription – twice: the initial sign-up and then by confirming
the subscription. The email newsletter publisher confirms the subscription with as
message like the one that follows:
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64
ClickZ reports that there is a downside to the double opt-in method of building a
subscriber list: you can lose about 40-60% of those people who initially signed up. 12
The advantage of the double opt-in method is that it confirms, without a doubt, that
your subscribers have requested to hear from you, suggesting they are truly interested in
your company. Since it requires an extra step to opt-in to your newsletter, you know
that your database list is comprised of interested readers.
Incorporate Feedback
If you are writing an email newsletter, you need to know what your readers are
thinking. Think about how you can tap into the minds of your readers. What kinds of
issues are important to your readers? What expertise, knowledge and experiences can
you share with your subscribers? One way to get feedback is to consistently ask for it.
Ask for comments in a variety of ways. Provide an email link to the editor. Provide a
reader survey as a way to start up the conversation between you and your readers. An
occasional poll would be useful, particularly when you share the feedback with your
readers and show the results of the poll in a subsequent issue. Surveys and polls,
promote the type of stickiness you are looking for, help develop loyalty and the results
of your surveys and polls are more information that can become topics in future issues
of your email newsletter. And be sure to answer every feedback message – speak
about the mail you get in your next newsletter – particularly if you get a lot of mail on a
certain subject
Unfortunately, getting people to give you feedback is not an easy task. Academic
researchers struggle with this constantly. How do you motivate prospects and current
customers to provide you with comments and opinions? Motivation is the issue. Can
you offer a free product or service to those who do respond? Would it be attractive to a
reader who gives feedback to receive an attribution in a subsequent issue? Some people
would greatly appreciate the recognition. Is there a real time poll or survey that you can
link to your newsletter? Would the chance to see how their opinions mesh with other
12
Click Z is the ClickZ Network, a source of interactive marketing news, information, commentary,
advice, opinion, and research. Their web site is www.clickz.com
Hit the Links
65
subscribers be motivation for a subscriber to complete a poll or survey? Can you
follow-up survey results with a briefing paper or whitepaper that can be offered to
subscribers?
Beyond motivating people to help you define the content of your email newsletter,
continue to pay attention to the information needs of the people you work with, those
who email you in the course of your day, and the issues covered in the industry news
that you read. Above all, make it easy for your readers to give you feedback. Here’s a
summary of the ways you can do that:

Hit the Links
Interactive surveys
Interactive polls
Ask questions – share the answers
Feedback link in every issue of your email newsletter
Feedback links on your website
Email links to the editor
Projected coverage of issues in future issues with invitation for
comments and suggestions
Electronic suggestion box
Toll-free phone number in your email newsletter
Reveal your editorial agenda or themes for upcoming issues
66
Design and Layout
HTML versus Text
One way to make your email newsletter stand out is give it a great look and feel by
using HTML formatting. Value-added content is a critical success factor of an email
newsletter but it goes hand-in hand with good formatting. A poorly designed newsletter
may not get read, even if it has great content.
A blend of linkable web pages and regular email, HTML email has been growing in
popularity for several years. HTML email lets you send and receive all kinds of
messages (newsletters, picture postcards, and so on) with the look and feel of Web
pages.
Listed below are the main advantages of using HTML email compared to ordinary text
email. You can see why HTML email would be an ideal way of sending your email
newsletter.
Fonts — With HTML, you can format your text using different typefaces and colors to
complement your message. Use san-serif fonts because they are easier to read. Sansserif fonts are fonts without “tick” marks. Examples of a commonly used san-serif fonts
are Arial or Verdana. Never use more than 2 types of fonts – it’s a design no-no.
Color — HTML email is more colorful than plain text email. It allows you to use
blocks of color in tables and as backgrounds resulting in attractive and attention-getting
layouts.
Images — It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Images add impact to
email, lending clarity and excitement. Images bring a certain professionalism to your
email newsletter.
Figure 9.1 shows a “before” and “after” comparison of text versus HTML email. The
HTML is significantly more professional looking and pleasing to the eye.
9
Design and Layout
67
Before” – This is an example of text based email
“After” – This is the same email in an HTML format
Figure 9.1 Text versus HTML email
Design and Layout
68
You don’t need a special email account to get started with HTML. If you are already
using Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, you only need to enable the HTML
feature in your email program (you then must create HTML files). If you don't use
Outlook or Outlook Express, many other email programs are also compatible with
HTML.
According to TemplateZone, a company that develops and sells HTML email software,
recent market research indicates that the vast majority of email programs in use today
can receive and display HTML messages and in time, all email clients will be able to
send and receive HTML email. However, if your recipient's email program cannot
display HTML email, then it will usually display just the plain text portion of your
message. Occasionally, you may find that someone's email program displays the HTML
source code. Fortunately, this represents only a small (and ever shrinking) percentage of
email programs.
Here is a list of compatible email clients for HTML 13 :

AOL 6, 7 , 8 and 9
Eudora 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0
ACT! 6, 2005, and 2006
Google Gmail
Hotmail
iNotes for Web, iNotes for Outlook
Juno 3.0 and higher
Microsoft Outlook 98 and higher
Microsoft Outlook Express 5 and higher
Netscape Messenger
Yahoo Mail
Some eNewletter publishers send their newsletter as an attachment. For example, their
newsletter might be saved in a PDF format and the file might be attached to a text-based
email that instructs the user to open the PDF newsletter file. 14 This approach has a few
13
This is a list according to KMT Software, Inc. developer of High Impact eMail,
www.templatezone.com
14
Short for Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures
formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send
Design and Layout
69
disadvantages. If the user doesn’t have a PDF reader installed, you have introduced an
extra step: installation of a reader like the Adobe Acrobat Reader. In addition, many
users are leery of attachments since they occupy memory and they sometimes carry
viruses – two reasons why the attachment might be deleted before the user reads it.
To ensure that your audience is able to read your newsletters, you may want to create a
version of the newsletter that is hosted on your organization’s site as a separate page.
Insert a link to that page at the top of each message and you’ll make it easier for your
readers to get to the material presented.
Length and Size of Email Newsletter
The length of your email newsletter is really up to you. But here are a few things to
consider.

Studies show that people don’t like to read lengthy on-screen documents
(email and Web pages). Most people skim the on-screen document and
will read word-for-word when interest is peaked.
Many people will print the article that they want to read word-for-word
but that is usually a small percentage of the total email newsletter
content.
There is a limit to the amount of scrolling people will do.
Lengthy articles (more than one window) should be broken into chunks
by using hyperlinks to make skimming on the screen easier.
When in doubt, keep it short.
In terms of size – there are two elements to consider – what is actually sent to the user
(text and HTML) and the images referenced in the email and sent only as the e-mail is
read.
It is simply not advisable to embed images inside the email. For example, there is a
popular HTML email add-on called High Impact eMail, includes a feature called:
ReadyShare™ 15 . ReadyShare provides an easy way to upload images to the web and
create compatible, HTML email. While the emails composed with High Impact eMail
formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended.
To view a file in PDF format, you need Adobe Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems.
15
ReadyShare is a trademark of KMT Software, Inc. www.templatezone.com
Design and Layout
70
are rich in color and design, their transmission size is kept to a minimum since all the
images are server-based and are not embedded or attached to each message.
As far as the file size of the email newsletter, keep in mind that HTML emails make for
larger file size. However, even lengthy text based email newsletters can often approach
40-50 KB. As a rule of thumb, keep your email newsletter less than 75 KB. Most
likely, you will be able to keep it in the 30 – 75 KB range. A helpful exercise is for you
to notice the size of the email newsletters in your email program’s inbox.
Copyright Notice
As a general rule, almost all things are copyrighted the moment they are written and no
copyright notice is required. Therefore, as soon as you write your email newsletter, it is
copyrighted. And although the copyright law does not require that you include a
copyright notice on each email newsletter you write, a notice warns readers that you
own the work (newsletter).
Copyright law also applies to images such as photographs. For example, you should not
scan pictures from a book or magazines and insert them into your newsletter without
permission from the owner of the copyright.
The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U.S. law, although it is often
beneficial as a warning. It also adds something to your publication; adding some value
since many readers get the impression that if something is copyrighted, it must be
valuable because you are attempting to protect it.
According to the US Copyright Office, the notice should contain three elements. They
should appear together or in close proximity on the copies. . 16 The elements are:

The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word “Copyright,” or the
abbreviation “Copr.”

The year of first publication.
The name of the owner of copyright in the work.

Example: © 2006 Michael P. Griffin
16
Copyright Notice, Information Circular, United States Copyright Office.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/circs/circ03.html
Design and Layout
71
It costs $30 to register a copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office
(www.loc.gov/copyright/). Forms and instructions can be found at their web site.
However, unless you have reason to believe that you will need to protect your copyright
in a court of law, you probably do not need to copyright your publication. That could be
a very time consuming and expensive exercise.
Advertisements in Your Newsletter
Many experts feel that advertisements in your email newsletter are not a good idea
unless this is a critical part of your newsletter’s mission. While most email newsletters
are written to build customer relationships; not to help sell other companies products
and services, it can be an opportunity to strengthen your relationships with affiliates and
create a revenue stream.
If you do plan on running ads and affiliate links in your newsletter, relevancy should be
your primary concern. For instance, if your company offers marketing services, link to
businesses whose services are adjunct to your offerings, such as printers or
photographers.
Design and Layout
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Distribution and Mail List
Management
Gathering Email Addresses
As you start up your email newsletter, one of your first objectives will be to gather up as
many email addresses as possible and to use every means possible to grow your list. As
tempting as it may be to blast your email newsletter out to every email address that you
can acquire, slow down and think about why email newsletters are successful.
One of the primary critical success factors of good email newsletter is that it is not
unsolicited email. It is email sent to people who want your information and with whom
you have already had at least one contact. These are people you have pre-qualified in
some way. They have either purchased from you, requested additional information,
been solicited through direct mail, answered one of your print ads, called you for
information, or have been recommended by someone else. The further away you move
from a “contact point”, the lesser the impact of your email newsletter and the more it
looks like spam. That’s the point where you start to do damage to your reputation.
It is true that in direct marketing (and email newsletters are a form of direct marketing)
numbers do matter. You certainly want to grow your list. But you must grow it the
right way. You are looking for both quantity and quality. To get quality, you need to
somehow pre-qualify the email addresses that you add to your email newsletter
database.
Gathering good names and growing a solid list is more expensive than buying a CD full
of email addresses or turning lose on the net an email harvesting program. Those
methods will give you lots of names - many of which will be outdated and inappropriate
to the target market you are trying to reach with your email newsletter. And this method
is a sure method for failure. Don’t even think about it. A minute lost thinking about
using these name sources is a minute lost to starting your plan to acquire names in a
legitimate manner
10
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Keep in mind as you devise your strategies, plans, and tactics for acquiring email
addresses, opt-ins are the only type of subscribers that you want for your email
newsletter. Opt-in means the recipients of your email newsletter has already requested
to receive information from you or has actually signed up for your email newsletter.
This means that the growth of your email newsletter subscription base must come from
people who take positive actions to request information from you.
Here are just some examples of how to encourage name acquisition:

Set up a guestbook "above the fold" (or above the “scroll”) on your web
site
Short of making product registration mandatory, make it very attractive
to do so
Make your list sign-up incredibly easy - ask as few questions as possible
- how many times did you want to sign up for something and got turned
off by the number of questions? These are usually the companies that
won't mail to you anyway
Improve your SEO - search engine optimization, so that more users will
find you
Trade advertisements with other newsletters
Find sources of cost per acquisition lists
Utilize a fish bowl inside your store with an offer for a free subscription
Write content / articles for other newsletters and encourage readers to
subscribe to your list.
Collaborate with someone else to provide an incentive and share the
email name
Work together with other local retailers
Have reciprocal subscription entries with other non-competitive
businesses
Never miss an opportunity to ask for an email address - customer
service, bill paying, subscription renewals, etc
Offer a prize at trade shows for email acquisition
Ask for email addresses at open houses
Get the email address at point of purchase
Ask for business cards - introduce these folks to your newsletter
74
Permission Based Email Newsletters
It is not appropriate to acquire emails addresses by just about any means and then blast
out hundreds or thousands of copies of your email newsletter. You must question at
what point is it okay for you to email a newsletter to a prospect or a customer without
the email being perceived as spam? The short answer to that question is that you
probably need some type of permission from your prospect before you can add them to
the subscription base. The way you acquire your email addresses is important. If you
acquire email addresses from a sign-up form on your web site, then clearly you have a
situation where people have “opted into” your email distribution list. Sending an email
newsletter to those folks is the ideal situation; what many people call permission based
email.
What about email addresses you have acquired by other means? Perhaps you have
acquired email addresses from order forms, business cards, or even other e-commerce
companies. Have those folks given you permission to send them information – like an
email newsletter? Probably not. The rule of thumb is this: before you can email to a new
address, you should have some form of permission.
As has been noted several times before in this book; email without permission is spam.
Spam annoys customers and prospects and if you are trying to build a solid subscription
base, you don’t want to annoy people. The powerful assumption behind permission
based marketing is that when a prospective customer gives you permission to send them
additional information, the likelihood is much greater that you can develop a
relationship with that person and that there is a better chance of creating loyalty than if
you make your contact via spam.
What about renting opt-in email lists? These are lists of people (and their email
addresses) that at some point in the past have stated (or checked an option box) that they
want information sent to them via email. Renting email addresses from third-party list
providers is a route that some new newsletter owners choose because you're given quick
access to a list of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have "opted" to receive
email on topics that interest them. You can usually expect to be charged 5 to 30 cents
per deliverable message, and you should expect any email addresses that are "bad" or
that "bounce" to be replaced by addresses that are current. Renting lists is very
75
expensive and unlikely to return results that will be acceptable. If the rental fee is much
less than this, then the list is highly suspect and likely a harvested list.
If you decide to use a service like this, know that you are probably participating in
spamming even though it’s called opt-in. This is opt-in on the edge – quite different
from a prospect going to your web site and signing up for your email newsletter.
If you go the rented opt-in list route, it's absolutely critical that you find out how the
email addresses were originally obtained. You want email addresses that have been
collected ethically and responsibly, and this means you want the email addresses of
people who are directly interested in your product, industry or field of expertise, and
have given their permission and "opted-in" to the list.
If you buy lists of email addresses that have been "harvested" from newsgroups, online
classified ad sites, online services and other similar sources, you will be rightly
accused of spamming. Any list that comes your way on a cd is obviously a spam list.
These people have not given you permission to contact them, and you can get into a lot
of trouble this way. Again, I can't overstate the importance of making sure the email
addresses you rent have been collected ethically and responsibly!
Spam
What is it? Spam is slang for junk email. It is unsolicited email. If you receive an email
newsletter that you never signed up for, you will think of that as spam. Spam can give
you a bad reputation.
No one likes spam. Organizations hate spam because of the hits it causes on their mail
servers. Parents hate spam because they don't want their kids getting unsolicited and
inappropriate ads. Like junk snail mail and calls from telemarketers, spam is at best, an
annoyance and at its worst, a poor use of server memory and electronic junk in your
inbox. In addition, spam, like telemarketers, is a target for politicians. Many states have
passed legislation governing spam (www.spamlaws.com/state/) and in 2003, the U.S.
Congress passed the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003; the federal government’s first major
attempt to control spam.
There is more spamming than ever before. According to the New York Times, a study of
the 3 million e-mail messages received each day at Indiana University, 45% are spam
76
and that AOL discards approximately 80% of the 2.5 billion e-mail messages sent daily
to its subscribers. 17 Anti-spammers are complaining of bulk emailers who clog up
inboxes with offers of pornography, get-rich-quick schemes and weight loss plans.
The ultimate question is what could happen if you are painted as a spammer? If reported
to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) spamming could result in a shut down of your
web site or email accounts and heavy damage to your reputation. In addition, if your
spamming contains fraudulent information, you could be investigated by the Federal
Trade Commission and state regulators. As a publisher of email newsletters, you should
be familiar with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which is discussed in the next section.
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) was an attempt by congress to put the
breaks on spamming. It derives its name from “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited
Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003”. Its objective is to prevent the practice of
Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE), otherwise know to most people as: “Spam”.
CAN-SPAM is the federal government’s first serious attempt at putting a framework in
place to control Internet communications, particularly those of businesses in the
promotion and solicitation of commerce.
The CAN-SPAM Act applies to all businesses in the US that use e-mail. It regulates
"commercial electronic mail message" —any e-mail message "the primary purpose of
which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service
(including content on an Internet website operated for a commercial purpose)" 18 . Just
about any business e-mail is covered, including e-mail newsletters as well as standalone
promotional e-mails.
The FTC or any state Attorney General is authorized to bring legal action under the Act.
ISP’s may also request action via either the FTC or the state Attorney General.
Statutory damages can be stiff. A State Attorney General can sue for $250 per illegal email message up to a maximum of $2 million -- more if the offense includes certain
17
Saul Hansell, Totaling Up the Bill for Spam: Wasted Time, Computer and Human, Is Only Part of the
Cost, New York Times, July 28, 2003, at C1.
18
Sec. 3(2)
77
aggravating violations. 19 Internet Service Providers can sue in federal district court for
$100 per illegal e-mail message up to a maximum of $1 million or more. 20
It is important that any company that uses email, including email newsletters,
communicate with existing or potential customers understand the basics of CANSPAM. Keep in mind that the act does not apply to “transactional relationship
messages”. Transactional relationship messages are emails that are primarily
noncommercial. For example, if your email newsletter announces product recalls, health
and safety information, or provides primarily customer service information, then you
most likely do not need to worry about the stipulations of CAN-SPAM.
As an email newsletter publisher, become familiar with CAN-SPAM. In short, if your
email newsletters include promotional messages (messages with a primary purpose of
promoting a good or service) then you must make sure that your “Subject:” line, your
“From:” line, and your content are not misleading and that you not only include a street
address (not a PO box) in your newsletter but you also provide a working opt-out link.
Keep in mind that the working opt-out link is a key. The FTC has disclosed that in a
study of a random sampling of 1,000 e-mail messages, 63% of those messages that had
removal links were found to not work. 21
Here is an executive summary of the basic practices that are prohibited under the CANSPAM Act:

The act prohibits false information in the “From:” line. The “From:”
line should include the name of your company or an actual person who
works for the company. It must be clear who is sending your email
newsletter.
The act prohibits false and misleading “Subject:” lines. In writing your
“Subject:” line, you need to be engaging and interesting, direct. concise,
and also honest; don’t use misleading statements.
The act requires that your emails include a clear and prominently
displayed mechanism for recipients to object to receiving emails. Your
email must make it easy for the recipient to “opt-out”. The act also
requires that senders comply with objection requests within 10 days
19
Sec. 7(f)
Sec. 7(g)(3)
21
Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on “Unsolicited Commercial Email” Before the
Subcommittee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, 108th Congress 13 (May 21, 2003).
20
78

of.the unsubscribe request. Therefore, if your subscriber wants to optout of future email newsletters, you must honor that request within 10
days or you are not in compliance with the act. Having an opt-out email
address is the minimum. It is best to have a one-click link with a
statement detailing when the request will be honored (hopefully
immediately).
The act requires clear identification that the email is a solicitation when
applicable. In your email newsletter, this would be an issue for
advertisements. For example, many email newsletters provide an
advertisement heading to alert the user that the text that follows is an
advertisement. Below is the way the Washingtonpost.com email
newsletter Personal Finance, handles advertisements (including its own
promotional material). 22
Advertisement
Get your news just the way you like it. Add your favorite columnists and topics to a
washingtonpost.com newsletter delivered to your in-box each morning. It's a free and
easy way to make sure you never miss a thing. Personalize your e-mail today and
enjoy customized articles tomorrow.

The act requires the email to contain a valid postal address. One
approach is to put the postal address in standard email footer like the
one below.
You have received this email newsletter because you provided your email address to
[COMPANY NAME] in the course of [BUSINESS ACTIVITY, MEETING,
SEMINAR, ETC.] or by subscribing. To unsubscribe from the email newsletter mailing
list, please click here or reply with the word “Unsubscribe” as the subject line. Your
request will be honored within [1 to 10 days or immediately] business day(s) upon
receipt. Our business address is [STREET ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP]. Thank
you.

E-mail address harvesting is prohibited under the act. Harvesting is the
practice of using software robots to “crawl” through web pages and
capturing (harvesting) any e-mail addresses that appear on those pages.
The Act states that it is unlawful to send -- or provide e-mail addresses
for an e-mailing "if such person had actual knowledge, or knowledge
fairly implied on the basis of objective circumstances that the electronic
22
Personal Finance is a newsletter distributed by washingtonpost.com. Michelle Singletary is the editor
of Personal Finance.
79
mail address of the recipient was obtained using an automated means
from an Internet website...”23
Dealing with Spam Complaints
When and if you receive a spam complaint, respond as soon as possible. Spam, like any
other customer complaint should be thought of a serious and a deficiency that you need
to clear up. It is essential that you maintain good records as to how you have acquired
your email names. For example, if you know that the source of your email addresses is
your sign-up box on your web site, then you will be able to communicate that to your
subscriber and offer instructions on how to unsubscribe.
When people file spam complaints, they sometimes send the complaint notice to your
Internet Service Provider (ISP). Therefore, be prepared to reply to ISP inquiries also.
Keep a copy of all complaints and your responses indefinitely, just in case you ever
need them.
List Management
Managing your list (database) of subscribers takes work. When you start out as an epublisher, there will be many questions to which you need to find solutions. Some of
the first questions to ask involve list management. How will you manage your list of
email addresses? How will you keep your list up-to-date? How will you add email
addresses when people want to subscribe? How will you delete unsubscribers? These
are database management questions.
Just as if you were doing bulk mailings using snail mail, you need a non-hassle way to
keep your list up-to-date and to merge your list of email addresses (subscribers) with
your email newsletter copy (email) when you want to distribute a new issue. The
sections that follow describe two general methods of list management: the manual
method (only appropriate for very small subscriber lists) and the automated method (the
route for most email newsletters).
23
Sec. 5(b)(1)
80
Manual Method
If your subscription base is very small (100 or fewer), the “manual” list management
system may work for you. In Outlook you can setup distribution lists. A distribution list
is a collection or group of email addresses. Therefore, in Outlook you could create a
distribution list of your email newsletter subscribers and send them the same message.
You can easily add and delete names in a distribution list. By all means, never place this
distribution list in the recipient field – always place the list in the bcc area 24 Otherwise
the recipients will see their own names and the names of all other recipients on the “To
line” of the message that delivers your email newsletter. If there is one certain recipe for
failure, this is it. The bcc approach is also rife with problems. Many ISPs will not allow
emails that contain a large bcc list and their individual delivery will oftentimes be
marked as spam because of a “malformed email address.”
The “manual method” is very labor intensive. Since there is no automation or
integration between the activities of people subscribing and unsubscribing to your email
newsletter, you must get the emails as they come in and make the changes to your
database (distribution list) one-by-one or in batches.
Sooner or later however, your list will grow to a size where handling each
subscribe/unsubscribe request takes too much time. When your list exceeds 100 names,
it begins to make sense to let someone else manage this for you.
Automated Method
As you grow, you must automate the list management of your email newsletter. It will
allow you to streamline the process of email list management and add a higher degree
of automation. You have a choice on how automation will work. You can purchase
your own email software or utilize an Application Service Provider (ASP). Many ASPs
advertise their program as being three services in one:

Email Database Management
Email newsletter Builder (templates and forms)
Campaign Manager (result tracking)
24
In Outlook, if you don’t want a recipient to see their name in the “To:” box you can use Bcc. Bcc is an
abbreviation for blind carbon copy. By adding a recipient's name to the Bcc box, a copy of the message
is sent to that recipient, and the recipient's name is not visible to other recipients of the message.
However, this too is a labor intensive method for distributing an email newsletter.
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Therefore, a web service will provide a database and tools too keep track of your
subscribers email addresses, templates and tools to prepare professional looking
newsletters, and software that can track key metrics so you can evaluate the
effectiveness of your email newsletter.
Whether you utilize an outsource solution like an ASP or use an in-house solution,
subscribers to your email newsletter will either:

Send an email to a specific email address with a request to "subscribe"
or "unsubscribe." The emails come in and the new subscribers or
unsubscribers' email addresses are automatically added or deleted to
your list.
Or

Go to your web site, enter their email address into a form and click a
button to get on and off the list. If you use an ASP system, the list
database will be automatically updated.
The advantages of the automated approach are obvious. It removes a great deal of
human involvement with database management; it reduces errors, and is fast and
efficient. An automated solution is the only way to go if you believe that subscriptions
to your email newsletter will soon be above some critical mass – such as a rule of
thumb of 100’s of subscribers.
Today’s email newsletter management software and web based services are quite
sophisticated and can include features such as:

Confirmed opt-in verification by email – often referred to as double optin.
Automatic transmission of HTML and Text based newsletters.
email newsletter signup forms for web site use.
Facility to export subscriber information to Excel for further analysis.
Ability to personalize your newsletters by including the subscriber’s
name, email and other demographic information.
Ability to measure the effectiveness of an email campaign by tracking
views, open rates, and clicks for each individual newsletter campaign.
Ability to track views, open rate, and clicks for each individual
subscriber.
Based on recorded click-throughs, follow-up newsletters can be sent to
those who clicked on a specific link(s).
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Built-in HTML editor.
Automated tracking/filtering of bounced email addresses. Addresses
can be removed after a certain number of user defined bounces.
Ability to schedule email campaigns for future delivery, such as up to
60 days in advance.
Includes option to forward newsletter to a friend.
Option to target newsletters based on collected demographic data.
Option to email most recent newsletter or a specific newsletter after a
confirmed opt-in.
Option to specify custom character sets for each newsletter list.
Welcome Message
When someone does subscribe to your email newsletter, send them a welcome message
right away. Here’s a list of welcome content you may find helpful:

Include a description of what they will typically receive in their
newsletter
How frequently they will receive it
Where they can read old issues (web address of the archive)
How to unsubscribe
You may also want to include your privacy statement or a link to your
privacy statement
If possible, the first issue should include a welcome message. Your welcoming message
should state something like: "Thank you for subscribing to our great email newsletter.
Here is our latest issue…". Such a message like that, reminds the subscriber that they
signed up for the email newsletter (as opposed to receiving something unsolicited).
Harvesting Email Addresses
No, no, no. In a nutshell – NO! The harvesting of email addresses is a practice that is
against the law. It is a tool of spammers. Harvesting is defined as compiling or
extracting email addresses through anonymous and usually automated collection
procedures. For example, there are software packages that will “spider” through the
Internet, visiting chat rooms, web sites, discussion lists, bulletin boards, company
directories, and any other files that listing personal or business email addresses. The
spider not only can recognize an email address when it “sees” one, but it can decide to
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capture it into a database file. Then you can append or merge the email addresses into
your database.
Most email harvesting is done to send bulk unsolicited email therefore, as was
mentioned in a previous section of this e-book, harvesting is prohibited under the CANSPAM Act 2003. Keep in mind that regardless of its prohibition under CAN-SPAM,
email address harvesting is not a good business practice. The use of email harvesting
techniques means that some part of your database of “subscribers” will have not had a
prior relationship with your or your organization. In this case, prior relationship means
any previous correspondence, transaction, third party permission use, or offline contact
(like a store visit). If you are foolish enough to use harvesting methods to build your
email list, your email newsletter will be perceived as spam and your web site will likely
be shut down. That’s the last thing you want!
Timing of Distribution
One advantage of email newsletters is that they give you the ultimate flexibility when
timing a delivery. When do you want readers to receive your email newsletter? This is a
question that e-marketers also study. Think about the best time to catch people’s
attention. The time and day of appropriate distribution of your email newsletter may
vary with the needs of your target audience. There maybe some group that enjoy
receiving your email newsletter on the weekend, while others can’t be bothered with
email on the weekend because they are busy with recreational activities. Some editors
believe that mid-day and mid-week are the best times to catch people's attention. Many
studies reveal that email marketers think that the best time to send an email marketing
campaign is between 8:00 am and 1:00 pm and that the best days of the week are
Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.
Monday mornings are tough for many people as they try to get back into the swing of
things and emails received late Friday, over the weekend, and early on Monday will
stack up and compete for attention with your Monday morning email newsletter.
Fridays may not be a good delivery day because people are trying to wrap up their
work, and look forward to rest, relaxation, and recreation for the weekend. Some
newspaper editors save their best stories for mid week when they believe readership is
up. Weekend reading habits are difficult to predict. Many people like to relax with their
Sunday newspaper as they religiously cull through just about every interesting article on
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Sunday morning or Sunday evening. There are sports fans who like to spend Saturday
morning with the sports page. The point is that only you can answer the timing question
after studying the wants and needs of your subscribers. For example, one of the most
popular ecommerce sites, Circuit City (www.circuitcity.com), sends their emails
during the day on Sunday. This time obviously works for them based on their results.
Identifying the best time to send out your email newsletter may not be easy. Rules of
thumb (between 8:00 am and 1 pm and Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) may be the
best times to satisfy your readers needs, provide optimal open rates (the percentage of
emails received that are read), and help to maximize your revenues. Every target market
has different needs and therefore you must think about the best timing (day and time)
for the distribution of your email newsletter. One idea is to experiment. That’s another
advantage of email newsletters. They are so cost effective that you can experiment with
different timing plans. Try different days and times and track some relevant metric
(responses, new subscriptions, orders, request for information, contest entries etc.).
Eventually, you should arrive at an optimal time and delivery day.
Ready to Launch
When you are ready to launch an issue, there are a variety of quality issues to consider.
A check list can help you resolve many quality issues before you click the send button.
The check list below is a starting point. Revise it to meet your specific needs. A copy
of this checklist is also included in the appendix of this book.
Proofread one last time. (see the next section on proofreading)

The "From:" line includes your company name, brand name, and
preferably the name or a real person (such as the editor).

The "Subject:" line is the right length. It is 5-8 words, and no more than
40 characters including spaces.
The "Subject:" line incorporates a specific benefit that will interest
subscribers and motivate them to open the issue.
The "Subject:" line includes your brand name if for some reason your
"From:" line does not.

The "Subject:" line accurately reflects the theme or basic message of the
issue
If possible, the email newsletter body is personalized with the recipient's
first name last name or both, if appropriate.
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The email newsletter copy is well written, clear and concise.
The email newsletter copy balances information and promotion (80/20
mix).
The promotional copy of the email newsletter contains a strong or at
least effective call to action.
The issue focuses on benefits or value-added information.
Appropriate graphics and a good use of white space.
The issue has been effectively proofread including the body of the email
newsletter, the "From:" line, and the "Subject:" line.
Links have been double-checked to assure they work properly.
The issue has been previewed and you have sent a test copy (to
yourself) in HTML and text.
Proofreading Your Newsletter
Be sure to properly proofread your email newsletter by getting someone else to ensure
the quality of your newsletter. Mistakes in your email newsletter will destroy your
credibility and the effectiveness of your message.
It’s always better to have someone else proofread your work because your own errors
can often “fool your eye”. However, even if you pass your work on to someone else to
proof you should always do your best to proofread your own work. In general, your
proofreading should be more than just re-reading your newsletter. You should ask
yourself:

Does the newsletter look right?
Is it effective and complete?
Does it sound right?
Is it correct?
Proofreading needs to be done in multiple stages. Some experts believe that at least
four rounds of proofreading are necessary. The first pass should involve a general read
— simply looking to see if the newsletter “looks” right. Here’s where you may catch
mistakes such as lengthy paragraphs, poorly positioned graphics, and poorly placed
hyperlinks. You may want to read the first pass aloud to let your ear catch grammar or
awkward sentence construction. The “sound” of your newsletter is important. If it
sounds stuffy or forced, people aren’t going to read it. A subsequent pass should involve
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reading one sentence at a time. Some experts also suggest you should do one pass from
the end of the newsletter to the beginning.
Each proofreading pass brings the newsletter closer to perfection. In addition, a
proofreading checklist is always a good idea. Here’s one you may find helpful
Proofreading Checklist

Newsletter has been spellchecked.
Read the newsletter aloud to check for complete sentences and flow of
thoughts. This also helps you find missing words.
Ideas are organized in a logical order.
Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with the correct
punctuation mark.
Periods and commas are used correctly.
Apostrophes are used correctly for contractions.
Quotations are punctuated correctly.
Names of people and places have been capitalized.
Each word in a title have been capitalized except: and, but, or, a, an, the,
and prepositions that are less than five letters long (from, to, in, out, on,
over, etc.).
First word of a title is always capitalized.
Use of common homonyms (there, their, they're; to, too, two, your,
you're) is correct.
Checked accuracy of numbers used in newsletter articles.
The numbers one through ten are spelled with letters. Numbers over ten
are written with numbers unless they begin a sentence.
Accurate abbreviations and acronyms.
Book titles are italicized.
Quotes are in quotation marks or italicized.
Eliminate the use of jargon and clichés.
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Contacting Existing Customers
How do you get the word out that you have an email newsletter? The first obvious step
is to let all your current customers know about the launch of your newsletter and how
they can subscribe to it. With every correspondence that you send to your current base
of customers, invoices, confirmations, invitations, thank you notes, etc., you need to
include information about your email newsletter.
Some tactics are obvious. Have you offered your existing customers a subscription to
your newsletter? If you haven't, you should email them an offer to subscribe. In addition
to trying to motivate your current customers to subscribe by explaining the benefits of
the email newsletter, consider a "special gift" like a free report, white paper, article or
book if they subscribe. Perhaps you can do the same if a current subscriber refers a
friend who registers as a subscriber.
Promoting Your Email Newsletter on Your Site
You should also promote your newsletter on your Web site. When you promote the
email newsletter on your web site (and this is true in all your newsletter promotional
pieces) you must give your prospective subscriber a reason to subscribe. Don’t just put
a banner on the site that says something like: "Click Here to Subscribe to our Free email
newsletter". Find a way to communicate why they should subscribe. Answer the
question: How will they benefit from subscribing and reading your email newsletter?
The idea that your email newsletter is free is not enough to get someone to subscribe.
Unless you can persuade people to believe otherwise, for the most part, “free” means
worthless. As a motivation to sign up, people must believe that they will get something
of value from the free newsletter. There are thousands of free newsletters out there; how
many of them offer really valuable information? What makes yours different or special
from all the thousands of other free email newsletters?
11
You really need to "sell" your free newsletter to potential subscribers. In one or two
sentences, make the benefits of subscribing clear. If your newsletter is about a coaching
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girl’s basketball, say something like "Subscribe to the Ultimate Coaching Girls
Basketball email newsletter. Receive monthly tips and advice from the best girls’
basketball coaches in the U.S. - from youth, high school, and college.” Doesn’t that
sound much more interesting and valuable than "Subscribe to my free newsletter"?
Another strategy for the web site is the positioning of the email newsletter subscription
box on your site. Make sure it is above the “fold” – immediately visible in the first
window. 25 In other words, don't make it difficult to find. If you believe that your email
newsletter is an important tool in your marketing mix, make sure everyone who visits
the site has an easy time finding the subscription box.
Promoting Email Newsletter in Everyday Emails
You probably write lots of emails in the course of your everyday business dealings.
Each email is an opportunity to promote your email newsletter. One simple and almost
effortless way (and potentially a viral way) is to add some type of tagline in your email
signatures. An email signature (in an email message) is a three- to six-line message or
footer that you can attach to the bottom of every one of your email messages. This is
“free” digital real estate that you should use to plug your email newsletter.
Most people are not offended by email signatures so you should take advantage of this
opportunity.
Here’s an example of an email signature that encourages the reader to sign-up for the
company’s email newsletter.
James Kinlan
President
TemplateZone.com
Subscribe to our Office Expert email newsletter
Post to Publicize
You should actively promote your email newsletter in every appropriate electronic
venue you can find. What better place to do that than in online resources that already
have an audience. Think about the newsgroups, discussion lists and forum postings you
25
Web site writers refer to the area your first see when a web site opens as "above the scroll". This is a
new twist on the term "above the fold" in a newspaper, which is what you see when the newspaper sits
folded on your desk or at the newsstand.
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can join to publicize your email newsletter. An editor who started up an email
newsletter on the topic of personal finance, received thousands of new subscribers by
posting helpful information on finance related newsgroups. He would give advice, tips,
make comments, and contribute to discussion threads and he always informed the
readers that he was the editor of a free personal finance newsletter.
If you can identify newsgroups, discussion lists and forums that relate directly to your
industry, profession, and business niche, it makes sense to contribute to the dialog of
those groups and to gently plug your email newsletter. Gently is the key word. Be
careful not to blatantly advertise the newsletter within these forums. Like spam, blatant
advertising in many of these venues annoys people. However, if you offer valuable
advice or make good contributions to the dialog, you can also mention that you are the
editor of a newsletter and how interested parties can subscribe.
You should also offer to write articles for local newspapers, trade journals, ezines and
other periodicals. Writing articles will become more efficient for you once you start
producing a few issues of your newsletter. You will have a “library” of good content
that you can spin out into an article. Be sure to promote your newsletter in the article
and include your web site address and email address in a tag line at the bottom of the
piece.
When you launch your first issue, be sure to also issue a press release to the local papers
and post the press release on the web – it’s inexpensive. See how you can do this online
at www.prweb.com. Some people who are familiar with your company or who have an
interest in the types of products and services you offer will take the time to surf to your
web site or email you for information on how to subscribe.
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Email Newsletters and Search
26
Engine Optimization
Congratulations! You’ve been drafted. Either the owner of one of the 4.9 million small
businesses in the United States has asked you to create a customer newsletter, or you are
THE owner and you couldn’t find any volunteers.
You are thrilled to find there are templates to help you create your first email newsletter
in less time than it took you to write a term paper in college. You are becoming a
believer in the power of the email newsletter when recipients of your initial effort start
walking into the store, calling during business hours, or ordering online. But the initial
glow will wane and the owner – or you – will naturally want to squeeze more value out
of your efforts.
So, how can you get more value out of your email newsletter?
You might consider increasing the frequency of email newsletter from four to 12 times
a year – IF you have two things: (1) enough “news” for a monthly newsletter, and (2)
enough time, staff or money to publish on a more regular basis. But email newsletter
publishing isn’t your business focus. And increasing the frequency of your email
newsletter by a factor of three may not increase your revenue by a factor of three.
You might try to find more subscribers for your email newsletter. This might be easier
said than done. If you are publishing a free email newsletter, then more recipients don’t
generate additional subscription revenue. And your response rates will drop if you send
your email newsletter to strangers who haven’t opted in to receive it. Again, your
business expertise is not email newsletter publishing. And the cost of renting email lists
doesn’t always translate into an equivalent boost in sales.
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12
This chapter was written by Greg Jarboe, the President and co-founder of SEO-PR (www.seopr.com), a firm that combines search engine optimization and public relations to generate web traffic,
sales leads and publicity.
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So, how can you get more value out of your email newsletter?
One of the easiest, smartest, and cheapest ways a small business can squeeze more
value out of an email newsletter marketing campaign is by archiving email newsletters
online and using the content in them to generate more search engine traffic to your web
site. This is called search engine optimization. Repurposing the content of your email
newsletter by positing it on your web site can generate qualified traffic to your web site,
leads for your products and services, and sales revenue. It can also help you collect
more email addresses for your email newsletter.
Of course, search engine optimization assumes that you have a web site. While many
small businesses still don’t have a web site, a majority do.
If your small business already has a web site, then there are a series of five inter-related
steps that you can take to leverage the effort that you’ve already put into creating an
email newsletter to launch a search engine optimization campaign.
Each of these five steps is important and it is risky to skip one. You may want to hire a
firm to do this work for you, or you may be willing to invest the time to learn how to do
it yourself. Either way, you will want to understand how to successfully take each step
to ensure that the complete process produces results.
Develop a Segmentation Strategy
Any small business should target at least two key market segments. The first group is
shoppers, prospects, or visitors to your web site. The second segment is existing buyers,
customers, or subscribers who have opted-in to receive your email newsletter.
In a growing business, the first group is bigger than the second. In a healthy business, a
significant percentage of the first segment will turn into members of the second.
When you create an email newsletter, it is generally targeted at the second audience.
These are people you already know and who already know you. Your reason for
sending it is to increase customer loyalty, prompt repeat purchases, or sell upgrades.
Their reason for receiving it is to get practical and reliable information as well as early
news.
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If you repurpose your email newsletter by posting the content on your web site, it can
also address the first segment. Visitors to your site will be able to read what you are
sending to your newsletter subscribers, which may prompt them to make a purchase or
opt-in to receive your newsletter themselves.
This sounds fairly straightforward, but you would be surprised by the number of
companies that don’t archive their email newsletters on their web sites. They can’t
imagine hitting two birds with one stone.
Once the content of your newsletter is posted on your web site, it can help an even
larger group of shoppers and prospects find your site when they use search engines.
This group is huge.
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project (www.pewinternet.org), 63%
of American adults go online. That’s 128 million people.
Of these 128 million Internet users in the U.S., 84% use a search engine to find
information. That’s almost 108 million people.
How can you get even a fraction of this group to “beat a path to your door”?
Conduct Keyword Research
Think about the terms users would type to find pages on your web site, and then
conduct your own keyword research to determine if you are right. To discover the most
popular search terms your prospects might use, try Overture’s Keyword Selector Tool.
It can be found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ and
it’s free!
Start your keyword research by typing your company name into the box. Now, for
comparison and contrast, type in: Google. In November 2004, there were 24,070,822
searches for this brand name. Not bad for a company that was incorporated on
September 7, 1998.
If your company or brand name isn’t as well known, look for a generic description that
people actually search for. As a general rule, the best search terms for small businesses
to use are at least two or three words long. Usually, too many web sites will be relevant
for a single word, such as "restaurant", or even for a popular two-word term like
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“Chicago restaurant.” This increased competition means your odds of success at being
found by search engine users are much lower. However, picking more specific phrases
can increase your chance of success. According to the Overture Keyword Selector
Tool, there were 13,679 searches done in November 2004 for “Chicago Italian
restaurant”.
Here’s another suggestion: Use a different target term in each article of your email
newsletter. Over the course of a year, this will enable your web site to be one of the
most relevant matches for dozens of search terms.
At SEO-PR, we license and use more sophisticated tools and services to conduct
keyword research for our clients. But, we have found that the tool or service you use is
not as critical as how well you use them. To paraphrase David Ogilvy, what
distinguishes great surgeons is not the scalpel they use — it’s their knowledge, dexterity
and experience.
Target Major Search Engines
To be successful, any small business needs to target the major search engines. How
many are there and which ones should you target?
Some unethical firms will send you unsolicited email promising to submit your web site
to “thousands of search engines.” Of course, other unethical firms will offer you diet
pills that “burn fat at night” or ask for your help transferring funds illegally from
deposed dictators. If this all seems too good to be true, it probably is.
According to the comScore Media Metrix qSearch service, there are only four search
engines with more than a 10% share of the searches conducted in the U.S. – Google
(36.8%), Yahoo Search (26.6%), MSN Search (14.5%), and AOL Search (12.8%). And,
since AOL’s main search results are powered by Google, there is just one search engine
that can literally make you – or break you.
Google has been called the 900-pound gorilla of search engines. It serves more than 59
million unique visitors each month and performs more than 200 million searches per
day – referring more traffic than any other search engine. Google has also indexed the
largest number of web pages of any of the search engines – more than eight billion. So,
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if your web site can’t be found when your shoppers or prospects conduct a search for a
relevant term on Google, you are missing out on an extraordinary opportunity.
Google’s dominance clarifies which search engine you need to help find, index, and
rank your site. However, it doesn’t simplify what you need to do, because Google's
order of results is automatically determined by more than 100 factors, including its
PageRank algorithm.
So what is the best way to ensure that your small business will be included in Google's
results?
Follow Google’s Guidelines
Google has acquired a reputation as a company that keeps trade secrets very close to its
vest. Nevertheless, Google also posts resources that can be used for those who want to
do it themselves. For example, Google’s Webmaster Guidelines are posted online at:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html. Several of these are technical
guidelines for webmasters in big companies or professional search engine optimizers,
like SEO-PR. But other guidelines cover content, design and quality issues that you or
someone else in your small business should understand – and follow. Here are some of
the more important ones:
Content Guidelines:
Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site
actually includes those words within it.
Create a useful, information-rich site and write pages that clearly and accurately
describe your content.
Make sure that your TITLE and ALT tags are descriptive and accurate.
Position Your Keywords
In addition to these guidelines, you should make sure that your keywords appear in
important positions on your web site. Each page's HTML title tag is very important, as
is the headline of each article from your email newsletter, which should be posted as a
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separate page on your web site. Failure to include your keywords in these positions is
one reason why perfectly relevant web pages may be poorly ranked.
While your titles and headlines need to include keywords, they also should be relatively
clear and concise. Just as newspaper headlines help readers decide if they want to read a
story, the titles or your articles need to help search engine users decide if they want to
click through to your site.
Placing keywords in your titles and headlines is not necessarily going to help your page
do well for relevant searches if the content of the article from your email newsletter has
nothing to do with the topic. Your keywords need to be both relevant and reflected in
the page's content – "high" in the body copy of a page.
You might need to expand a few text references, where appropriate. For example, you
might substitute keyword phrases for one or two pronouns like "it" or "its" to increase
their overall frequency in the article. This reinforces your strategic keywords in a
legitimate and natural manner.
Design Guidelines
Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content, or links. The
Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images. When you post articles from
your email newsletter to your web site, make sure every page is reachable from at least
one static text link.
Every major search engine uses link analysis as part of its ranking algorithms. This is
done because it is very difficult for webmasters or search engine optimizers to "fake"
good links, in the way they might try to spam search engines by manipulating the words
on their web pages. As a result, link analysis gives search engines a useful means of
determining which pages are good for particular topics.
Build Links
By building links, you can improve how well your pages do in link analysis systems.
The key is understanding that link analysis is not about "popularity." In other words,
it's not an issue of getting lots of links from anywhere. Instead, you want links from
good web pages that are related to the topics you want to be found for.
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For example, you can create a site map with links that point to the important pages of
your site. If the site map is larger than 100 or so links, you may want to break the site
map into separate pages.
You can also go to Google, search for your target keywords, and look at the pages that
appear in the top results. Then visit those pages and ask the site owners if they will link
to you. Not everyone will, especially sites that are extremely competitive with you.
However, there will be non-competitive sites that will link to you – especially if you
offer a reciprocal link back to them.
Quality Guidelines
However, don't participate in link schemes designed to increase your site's ranking or
PageRank. In particular, avoid links to web spammers or "bad neighborhoods" on the
web as your own ranking may be affected adversely by those links.
Make pages for users, not for search engines. Don't deceive your users, or present
different content to search engines than you display to users. Avoid tricks intended to
improve search engine rankings. A good rule of thumb is…to ask, "Does this help my
users? Would I do this if search engines didn't exist?"
Specifically, don’t use unethical tactics that Google and other search engines consider
search engine spam. Search engine spam is as problematic as email spam. No one likes
email spam, and companies that use it often face a backlash from those on the receiving
end. Sites that spam search engines face the same backlash that email spam generates.
The content of most web pages ought to be enough for search engines to determine
relevancy without webmasters or unethical search engine optimizers having to resort to
repeating keywords for no reason other than to try and "beat" other web pages. The
stakes will simply keep rising, and users will also begin to hate sites that undertake
these measures.
If these ethical reasons aren't enough, how about some practical ones? Spam doesn't
always work with search engines. It can also backfire. Search engines may detect your
spam attempt and penalize or ban your page from their listings.
Google specifically recommends that you:
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Avoid hidden text or hidden links.
Don't employ cloaking or sneaky redirects.
Don't send automated queries to Google.
Don't load pages with irrelevant words.
Don't create multiple pages, sub-domains, or domains with substantially
duplicate content.
Avoid "doorway" pages created just for search engines or other "cookie
cutter" approaches such as affiliate programs with little or no original
content.
In addition, search engine spam attempts usually center on being top ranked for
extremely popular keywords. You can try and fight that battle against other sites, but
then be prepared to spend a lot of time each week, if not each day, defending your
ranking. That effort usually would be better spent on other forms of free web site
promotion.
Submit Key Pages
When you add new content from your email newsletter to your web site, submit key
pages to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html. Whatever you do, don't trust
the submission process to automated programs and services. Some of them are
excellent, but the major search engines are too important. So submit pages manually to
ensure there are no problems.
Also, don't bother submitting more than the top two or three pages. It doesn't speed up
the process. Submitting alternative pages is just a form of insurance. In case a search
engine has trouble reaching one of the new pages, you're covered by giving it another
page from which to begin its crawl of your site.
Google also suggests that you:

Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware that
they are now online.

Submit key pages to relevant directories such as the Open Directory
Project and Yahoo.
Periodically review Google's Webmaster section for more information.

This approach requires a little patience. It can take up to a month to two months for
your "non-submitted" pages to appear in a search engine, and some search engines may
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not list every page from your site. However, it is a free web site promotion tactic that
works – if you follow the guidelines.
Trust, But Verify
Finally, in the words of former President Ronald Reagan, “Trust, but verify” your
search engine listing.
Check on your pages to be sure they get listed. Once your pages are listed in a search
engine, monitor your listing every week or two. Strange things happen. Pages disappear
from catalogs. Links go screwy. Watch for trouble, and resubmit if you spot it.
Google strongly cautions, “Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages,
check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our terms
of service. Google does not recommend the use of products such as WebPosition
Gold™ that send automatic or programmatic queries to Google.”
Nevertheless, you should resubmit your site any time you make significant changes.
Search engines should normally revisit it on a regular schedule. However, some search
engines have grown smart enough to realize that some sites only change content once or
twice a year, so they may visit less often. Resubmitting your site after making major
changes or adding significant new content will help ensure that your site is indexed
more frequently.
It’s worth taking the time to make your site more search engine friendly, because some
simple changes may pay off with big results. Even if you don't come up in the top 10 for
your target keywords, you may find an improvement for target keywords you aren't
anticipating. The addition of just one extra word can suddenly make a site appear more
relevant, and it can be impossible to guess what that word will be.
And remember: While search engines are a primary way people look for web sites, they
are not the only way. People also find sites through word-of-mouth, traditional media,
and links from other sites. Use these alternative information sources to drive qualified
prospects to your web site.
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Finally, know when it's time to call it quits. A few changes may be enough to make you
tops in one or two search engines. But you shouldn’t invest more money than it is worth
to create special pages or change your site to try and do better.
If you can’t get top 10 results cost-effectively, SEO-PR will be the first to recommend
that your marketing dollars be put to better use pursuing other web site promotion
methods.
The Bottom Line
Search engine optimization can help you improve your ranking for key terms, increase
the amount of qualified traffic to your site, as well as generate more leads and sales for
your business. In addition, archiving your newsletter content on your web site can also
help you collect more addresses for your next email marketing campaign.
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How’s it Going?
Email Newsletter Metrics
Developing information, writing and designing and delivering your email newsletter is a
cost of doing business. As such, you will need to monitor those costs. However, the cost
of an email newsletter should not be a significant issue. Unless you outsource much of
the writing, cost control is probably not a big issue.
The real control focus with email newsletters is more about how well you are doing
meeting the objectives you have set. Many people today refer to anything that attempts
to measure effectiveness as a metric. And so, you should think about the metrics
(measurements) you can use to determine if your newsletter is doing the job well.
How is the effectiveness of an email newsletter measured? What metrics are
appropriate? As you might expect, e-metrics is an area that is still evolving. You may
need to think carefully about your organization and your email newsletter and what you
are trying to accomplish before you can define a good set of email newsletter metrics.
Some basic metrics include:

Number of subscriptions
Growth rate in subscriptions
Cost per subscription
In addition, since a number of subscriber interaction activities “triggered” by your email
newsletters can be gathered and tracked, some other e-metrics can be generated and
evaluated such as:

Click-throughs

Stickiness
Conversion rates

And there are other possible e-metrics that should be monitored and trends should be
analyzed over time. For example, taking a page from email marketers, you might want
to track the following:
13
How’s it Going?

Number of issues sent
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Number of emails bounced (come back as no longer valid email
addresses)
Number of emails opened
Click through rate
You might want to track these kinds of metrics in a matrix or worksheet like the
following:
MONTH
NUMBER SENT
BOUNCED
OPENED
UNSUBSCRIBES
CLICKTHROUGH RATE
January
10,000
10%
65%
5%
8%
February
11,000
12%
67%
6%
7.5%
March
12,000
11%
70%
7%
8%
Perhaps a table and a chart would help you track your email newsletter’s performance.
Figure 13.1 shows some e-metrics that were prepared in an Excel worksheet using both
a table and a three dimensional bar chart.
It is quite obvious why some metrics should be tracked. For example, click-through
rates are important just as response rates to a snail mail promotion would be closely
monitored. But what about something like bounces (also called bounce backs)?
Bounces are undeliverable emails. They are becoming more and more important to
Figure 13.1 Tracking email newsletter performance
How’s it Going?
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email marketers. According to a recent Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM)
survey, 77% of respondents had bounce rates up to 10%, and 23% had rates greater than
10%. A high bounce rate should be of concern to you. Bounces can mean the loss of
customers and prospects that cost you dollars to acquire (email addresses) as well as to
maintain.
Whether your metrics include bounces, unsubscribes, or click throughs, the point is this:
keep in mind that you should develop or adopt some control statistics. Develop a set of
e-metrics that can help assure the success of your email newsletter program by
monitoring how well you are doing.
The Revenue Generator
Since your email newsletter is primarily about communication and not a sales vehicle, it
can and perhaps should have a call for action that will result in revenue. A call for
action is anything that might spur a sale, request more information, or contribute to a
fundraiser. All promotional specials (mentioned in the newsletter) require an action
(purchase) within 48 hours by using a specified code word available only to newsletter
subscribers. Within 24 hours of the email newsletter delivery, orders from that specific
call for action pour in.
Detailed reports are generated so each marketing campaign launched through the email
newsletter can be clearly tracked. This allows the company to refine newsletters and
even to target specific customers on specific days.
It makes sense to link leads and sales generated by the email newsletter to additional
revenue. Keep in mind that additional revenue can come from several sources
including:

How’s it Going?
Current customers who believe the email newsletter information
prompted them to do additional business.
Prospects that read the email newsletter and because of its information
and decided to purchase.
New prospects who saw the email newsletter or who have colleagues
and friends who read the newsletter and decided to contact your
organization to inquire about a product or service.
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In addition, think about not only the incremental revenue of your email newsletter but
the expenses that are reduced by the sending your newsletter by email. The email
newsletter might make it possible for you to cut back on other marketing activities such
as:

Direct mail
Advertising in multiple publications
Paper based newsletters
Certainly, the cost of an email newsletter can be offset by the reduced expenses of
several promotional activities.
Qualitative Benefits
Of course there will be benefits of your email newsletter that will be difficult to
measure. There are some important outcomes that just can’t be measured by e-metrics
or by any quantitative method. However, those benefits, also know as qualitative
benefits, are real and even if they can’t be measured in dollars and sense they are
valuable.
How can one measure the strength of relationships? That measurement is impossible
yet, the building of relationships is critical in today’s business world. How can one
measure the value of having your name in front of prospects or on the mind of a
customer? While it is difficult to measure that value, it is very important to remind your
prospects and customers about who you are and what you can do.
Your email newsletter should be providing the following qualitative gains or benefits:
How’s it Going?

Increased feedback from customers and prospects. Your email
newsletter should help trigger additional questions, comments, and
suggestions. While it is difficult to measure the revenue or expense
impact of increased feedback, this information is mission critical
information and is very valuable.

The growth of subscribers. Each time an email newsletter is sent,
some people will unsubscribe while new subscribers will be added to
the list. The growth of the subscriber base increases leads that could be
converted to future sales. In addition, more readers (subscribers)
increase to the “buzz” about your organization’s products and services.
The value of the “buzz” is difficult to measure but everyone knows it
has great value.
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The growth of interested and engaged readers. A subset of the item
above (growth of subscribers), interested and engaged readers are leads
that are closer to becoming sales.
What Can Go Wrong?
The email newsletter is a great idea and can be a very effective element of marketing
mix. They must be executed properly to enhance an organization’s image and to addvalue. Most of this book will provide you with positive strategies and tactics to help
you create really great email newsletters. But in an attempt to teach you the right
things, we thought it would be helpful to show you a list of common errors to avoid:

Make it difficult to subscribe. Have no effective program of collecting
new email addresses. To grow an audience for your email newsletter,
you need a way to gather new email addresses. Because your list will
always be shrinking based on email address changes, unsubscribes and
undeliverables.

Send your email newsletter to readers without their permission. A sure
way to ruin your newsletter is to follow this path and be accused of
spam.

Simply concentrate on selling. Use the email newsletter to sell, sell, and
sell. If you provide nothing but offers, sales, discounts, and heavy sales
pitches, your readers will be turned off, click-throughs will drop, and
conversion rates will be so low your email newsletter won’t be worth
the trouble of writing it.
Don’t solicit feedback from readers. Readers should have any easy way
to let you know their opinions.
Ignore your readers’ preferences. When they do tell you what they want,
you need to work hard to provide it. Think of your email newsletter as a
means of nurturing customer relationships. With that in mind, work
towards meeting the formation needs of customers and prospects each
time you design and write your publication.
Ignore the importance of the “From:” line. Remember, an email
newsletter is a form of email. If your reader sees a suspect “From:” line,
then they may simply delete the email and never read your email
newsletter.
Ignore the importance of the “Subject:” line. Like number 7 above, the
“Subject:” line gives the reader an important message. Just as the
“Subject:” line of an interoffice memo may cause you to through away
the memo without reading, a poorly written “Subject:” can kill an email
newsletter.

How’s it Going?
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How’s it Going?
Don’t worry about consistency. Newsletter readers want consistency.
They want the newsletter to have the same look and feel, issue after
issue and have it sent from the same “From:” line.
Don’t prepare a schedule of “press dates”. Just like other periodicals,
loyal readers want to be able to count on receiving the newsletter on
some type of schedule (once a week, monthly, quarterly, etc). Readers
of newsletters want a frequency they can count on. Many experts
believe weekly or monthly frequency is best. Any more frequently, and
they report that unsubscribe rates will go up.
Don’t proofread – If your newsletter has one spelling mistake it is one
too many. If a single link doesn’t work, what will your subscribers think
of you?
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Appendix
Exhibit 1 Example Privacy Statement
Privacy Policy
TemplateZone is committed to protecting the privacy of our members. In order to
provide a safe, secure experience, we will make every effort to ensure that the
information you give us remains private, and is used only for the purposes described
below.
TemplateZone gathers collective information about members, such as which areas of
the site are visited most often and what services are most valued. This aggregated and
anonymous data helps us determine how we can create a better overall experience for
our members. We may share this aggregated, anonymous information with our partners,
so that they too may understand how to best serve our members.
The TemplateZone registration form requires members to give contact information
(such as name and email address). We use this information to contact members when
necessary (i.e., to send them product updates and offers), as well as to send members
promotional material. To opt-out of receiving promotional emails, see the opt-out
section below.
Security
This site has password security measures to protect against the loss, misuse and
alteration of the information under our control.
Opt-Out
TemplateZone provides members with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving
communications from our partners and us, as well as to unsubscribe from our service.
Appendix
107
Contact Information
If you have any questions about our services or privacy statement, contact:
TemplateZone customer support
50 Mount Vernon Street
Cambridge MA 02140
[email protected]
Appendix
108
Use this checklist to provide quality control procedures before you send out an issue of
your email newsletter.

Appendix
The "From:" line includes your company name, brand name, and
preferably the name or a real person (such as the editor).
The “Subject:” line is the right length. It is 5-8 words, and no more than
40 characters including spaces.
The “Subject:” line incorporates a specific benefit that will interest
subscribers and motivate them to open the issue.
The “Subject:” line includes your brand name if for some reason your
"From:" line does not.
The “Subject:” line accurately reflects the theme or basic message of the
issue
If possible, the email newsletter body is personalized with the recipient's
first name last name or both, if appropriate.
The email newsletter copy is well written, clear and concise.
The email newsletter copy balances information and promotion (80/20
mix).
The promotional copy of the email newsletter contains a strong or at
least effective call to action.
The issue focuses on benefits or value-added information.
Appropriate graphics and a good use of white space.
The issue has been effectively proofread including the body of the email
newsletter, the "From:" line, and the "Subject:" line.
Links have been double-checked to assure they work properly.
The issue has been previewed and you have sent a test copy (to
yourself) in HTML and text.
Check to make sure that you have included all of the ones from
Constant Contact
Should we make this more of a form – check list
109

Appendix
Newsletter has been spellchecked.
Read the newsletter aloud to check for complete sentences and flow of
thoughts. This also helps you find missing words.
Ideas are organized in a logical order
Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with the correct
punctuation mark.
Periods and commas are used correctly.
Apostrophes are used correctly for contractions.
Quotations are punctuated correctly.
Names of people and places have been capitalized.
Each word in a title have been capitalized except: and, but, or, a, an, the,
and prepositions that are less than five letters long (from, to, in, out, on,
over, etc.).
First word of a title is always capitalized.
Use of common homonyms (there, their, they're; to, too, two, your,
you're) is correct.
Checked accuracy of numbers used in newsletter articles.
The numbers one through ten are spelled with letters; Numbers over ten
are written with numbers unless they begin a sentence.
Accurate abbreviations and acronyms.
Book titles are italicized.
Quotes are in quotation marks or italicized.
Eliminate the use of jargon and clichés.
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Bounces or Bounce backs — undeliverable emails. Like unsubscribes, the email
addresses of bounces must be removed from your database and may represent lost
prospects.
Call for action — anything that might spur a sale, request more information, or
contribute to a fundraiser.
CAN-SPAM — Act passed by the U.S. Congress that controls spamming. The law
gives the Federal Trade Commission power to enforce the law and attaches penalties to
noncompliance.
Cost per thousand (CPM) — CPM commonly refers to the cost per 1000 names
(email addresses). For example, a rental list of email addresses priced at $250 CPM
would mean that the list owner charges $.25 per email address.
Click-through – When a reader of your email newsletter clicks on a link in your
newsletter. Many times, the link leads to a visit at a particular “landing page” on your
Web site.
Click-through rate (CTR) – the percentage of email newsletters mailed that result in a
subscriber clicking on a particular hyperlink. For example, a click of a link in an email
newsletter might result in a new lead for a for a product sale.
Conversion rate – An e-metric that measures the effectiveness of a converting a
prospective customer into a customer. It is the percentage of people converted into
buyers. In the case of an email newsletter, a conversion rate might measure the number
of subscribers who become customers. For web sites, the conversion rate is the number
of visitors who took buy the product or service divided by the total number of visitors in
a given time period (typically, per month). In an email marketing campaign, the
conversion rate is found by dividing the number of people buy the product or service
divided by the total number of people who received the email.
Distribution list – is a collection or group of email addresses
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Email append – the process of adding an individual’s email address to that individual's
record inside a marketer’s existing database. This is accomplished via information
technology by matching the marketer’s database physical address information against a
third-party database to produce a corresponding email address.
Email blocking – email blocking typically refers to blocking by Internet Service
Providers (ISP). Emails that are blocked are not processed through the ISP and are
essentially prevented from reaching their addressed destination. ISPs actively block
email coming from suspected spammers.
Email list – a database of email addresses. In the case of an email newsletter, the email
list is synonymous with subscriber list.
Email marketing – using email to inform customers and prospects about products and
services. It is a more immediate and cost-effective way to communicate informational,
promotional and advertising material.
Email newsletter ads or sponsorships – Buying ad space in an email newsletter or
sponsoring a specific article or series of articles. Advertisers pay to have their ad (text,
HTML or both depending on the publication) inserted into the body of the email.
eZine – another name for email newsletter. Email newsletter/magazine.
Harvest – the use of software to gather email addresses from web sites, email
messages, web directories, bulletin boards, forums, chat rooms, and lists.
House list (or Retention List) – A permission-based list that you built yourself. Use it
to market; offer email newsletter subscriptions, cross sell and up-sell, and to establish a
relationship with customers over time.
HTML – HyperText Markup Language. Code used to format web pages and email
messages. Allows for use of color, fonts, and images.
HTML email – Email, including email newsletters, prepared using HTML (HyperText
Markup Language). HTML often results in a higher response rate or readership than
plain text messages.
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Hyperlink – Clickable text or image in email messages or web pages that allows you to
visit another web page or another area of the page you are viewing. Hyperlinks help
email newsletter to be interactive.
Hypertext – Clickable text in email messages or web pages that allows you to visit
another web page or another area of the page you are viewing.
Open rate – The percentage of emails opened in any given email marketing campaign,
or the percentage opened of the total number of emails sent. Open rates can be
calculated for email newsletters since they are a form of email.
Opt-in – Opt-in is the action a person takes when actively agreeing, by email or other
means, to receive communications, such as an email newsletter or email offers.
Opt-out – Opt-Out is the action that a person takes when they choose not to receive
communications. Opt-out is also used when recipients receive unsolicited email
promotions and are given the opportunity to opt-out (unsubscribe) of future promotions.
Landing page – a page on a web site that subscribers see when they click a link in the
email newsletter. The landing page could be a subscription sign up form, a page with
product information, or a survey.
Lead – a prospective customer. Email newsletters help generate leads when people read
the articles and request further information.
List management – The process of updating and maintaining a roster of new or current
customers who have selected to Opt-in for future mailings or to Unsubscribe from a
given mailing list.
Permission-based email – email sent to recipients who have opted-in or subscribed to
receive email communications from a particular company, website or individual.
Permission e-marketing – e-marketing focused on obtaining customer consent to
receive information from a company.
Privacy policy – A clear description of an email newsletter, web site or company's
policy on the use of information collected from and about website visitors and what
they do, and do not do, with the data.
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Rental list – A list of prospects or a targeted group of recipients who have opt-in to
receive information about certain subjects. Using permission-based rental lists,
marketers can send email messages to audiences targeted by interest category,
profession, demographic information and more.
ROI – Return on Investment. The ROI is found by dividing the profit from a
promotional campaign by the cost of that campaign. If you keep track of the profits
generated by your email newsletter and divide that by the costs of the email newsletter,
you will have your email newsletter’s ROI.
Signature file (or sig file for short) – A tagline or short block of text at the end of an
email message that identifies the sender and provides additional information such as
company name and contact information.
Spam – Sending Persistent Annoying Email. Spam is any kind of unsolicited emails.
Spider – A program designed to visit web sites and to analyze the content of the site or
files or to harvest information, such as email addresses.
Stickiness – an email newsletter’s (or web site) ability to make the reader “stick
around” and spend time reading, interacting, exploring links, making purchases, and
requesting information.
Targeting – Selecting a target audience or group of individuals likely to be interested in
a certain product or service or in the case of email newsletters, a group of people
(prospects and customers) who would be interested in subscribing to the newsletter.
URL (or Universal Resource Locator) – A web site or web page address or location
on the Internet.
Viral marketing – spreading a marketing message, often by use of information
technology. Viral marketing has been facilitated by email messages, web addresses,
and other information that gets forwarded to recipients. Viral marketing is an electronic
version of word-of-mouth.
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Michael P. Griffin, CMA, ChFC, CFM, is primary author of this book. He is the former
editor of an email newsletter, The Internet Personal Finance Letter. Griffin was also
the editor of the Third Wave, a newsletter of the Charlton College of Business at the
University of Massachusetts. In addition to being a full-time professor at the Charlton
College of Business, Mr. Griffin is the Director of Academic Content Development for
KMT Software, Inc. Mark Scapicchio was a contributor to this book. Mark has written
advertising and marketing copy for some of the best-known companies and advertising
agencies in the world, and for many successful smaller companies. To learn more about
his background, his clients, and how he can improve your copy visit his Web site at
www.scapicchio.com. Chapter 12 on the topic of search engine optimization was
written by Greg Jarboe. Greg is co-founder of SEO-PR (www.seo-pr.com), which
specializes in search engine optimization, public relations, and web site promotion. He
has more than 20 years of experience in high tech marketing and corporate
communications.
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About KMT Software Inc. and
Templatezone.com
Headquartered in Massachusetts, KMT Software was established in 1991. Since then,
KMT has established itself as the leading supplier of content for Microsoft Office and
other desktop applications, providing templates, applications, and add-ins. KMT has
built up a user community of over a million users and the company has been
increasingly profitable since its first year of existence.
KMT is best known for its TemplateZone web site, where KMT products are offered to
end-users. However, a substantial part of KMT's business comes from OEM
relationships, custom development projects, and corporate consulting. KMT is always
seeking new clients for custom projects, large and small. KMT is highly focused on
deadlines and is capable of delivering high-quality work with remarkable speed, at a
reasonable cost.
About KMT Software, Inc. and TemplateZone
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